Aaron Bell (politician)

Aaron Bell
Assistant Government Whip
In office
14 November 2023 – 30 May 2024
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Member of Parliament
for Newcastle-under-Lyme
In office
12 December 2019 – 30 May 2024
Preceded byPaul Farrelly
Succeeded byAdam Jogee
Personal details
Born
Aaron Stuart Bell

(1980-02-25) 25 February 1980 (age 44)
Dulwich, Greater London, England
Political partyConservative
Alma materSt. John's College, Oxford (BA)

Aaron Stuart Bell (born 25 February 1980) is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Newcastle-under-Lyme from 2019 to 2024.[1][2]

Early life

Bell was born in Dulwich, south east London, to parents Stuart and Janet Bell. He was educated at St Olave's Grammar School (a voluntary aided grammar school) in Greater London, and then privately educated at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia, USA. He then studied PPE at St John's College, Oxford.[3][4] Bell graduated with a BA in 2001.[2]

Before his political career, Bell was a successful quizzer: he was part of the St John's College, Oxford team that were runners up in the 2000–01 series of University Challenge; he won the Krypton Factor in 2009; he was part of the Epicureans team that won Only Connect in 2010; he also won £25,000 on Deal or No Deal in 2006.[5][3]

Bell worked as a trading development manager from 2003 to 2006, being employed by Ladbrokes. He was a senior trading performance analyst from 2006 to 2019 for the online betting company Bet365, and co-founded DivideBuy, a financial technology firm which employs 40 staff in Newcastle.[6][7]

Political career

Bell stood in the Labour-held seat of Don Valley in South Yorkshire at the 2017 election, but was unsuccessful.[8] Bell was elected as MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme at the 2019 general election being the first Conservative MP for the constituency in modern times.[9]

As of 21 January 2020, he was an unpaid member of the board of Town Deal Newcastle-under-Lyme.[10]

Bell benefitted from hospitality worth thousands of pounds, provided on behalf of the gambling industry.[11][12][13][14] He was a member of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Gambling, spoke out against tougher regulation of gambling and criticised measures taken by the gambling industry regulator to reduce addiction.[15]

In November 2021, he was one of 13 Conservative MPs who voted against a government-supported amendment to defer the suspension of Conservative MP Owen Paterson who was found to have breached lobbying rules.[16]

Bell was elected Vice Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group in 2021.[17] He became the secretary in 2022.[18]

In January 2022, in the wake of the Partygate controversy, Bell publicly criticised Boris Johnson by asking: "Does the Prime Minister think I'm a fool" for properly following COVID-19 regulations during his grandmother's funeral the year before.[19]

Sexual misconduct

On 31 May 2024, Bell announced he would stand down at the 2024 United Kingdom general election due to personal and family reasons.[20] In October 2024, and following a complaint in February 2024, parliament's Independent Expert Panel reprimanded him for "brazen and drunken" sexual misconduct in parliament’s Strangers' Bar in December 2023 by touching a young female member of staff's thigh, waist and bottom without her consent.[21] Bell apologised for his behavior and acknowledged that his decision to stand down was motivated in part by the investigation.[22]

Personal life

Bell lives in Newcastle-under-Lyme [23] with his wife Emily, whom he married in 2008. They have three children.[24][8]

Bell appeared on the fourth series of BBC Four quiz show Only Connect as a member of the Epicureans, scoring the highest score of 41.[25]

References

  1. ^ "Newcastle-under-Lyme parliamentary constituency – Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Bell, Aaron Stuart, (born 25 Feb. 1980), MP (C) Newcastle-under-Lyme, since 2019". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 2020. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u293961. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  3. ^ a b Ault, Richard (13 December 2019). "He's appeared on Deal or No Deal and the Krypton Factor – everything you need to know about Newcastle's new Tory MP Aaron Bell". Stoke-on-Trent Live. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  4. ^ Aaron Bell LinkedIn profile
  5. ^ Teale, Andrew (12 December 2019). "Previewing the 12th December council by-elections". New Statesman. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  6. ^ "About Aaron Bell". Aaron Bell MP. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  7. ^ PoliticsHome.com (16 December 2019). "Class of 2019: Meet the new MPs". PoliticsHome.com. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  8. ^ a b Ault, Richard (13 December 2019). "Everything you need to know about Newcastle's new Tory MP Aaron Bell". stokesentinel. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  9. ^ "Newcastle-under-Lyme parliamentary constituency – Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  10. ^ "Newcastle-under-Lyme Town Deal". Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  11. ^ "House of Commons – The Register of Members' Financial Interests (1 November 2021: Bell, Aaron )". Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  12. ^ Dubas-Fisher, David; Corrigan, Phil (22 November 2021). "Newcastle MP enjoyed £6.9k hospitality from gambling firms at Euro 2020". The Sentinel.
  13. ^ Davies, Rob (15 November 2021). "Almost £225,000 in wages and freebies taken from gambling industry by 28 MPs". The Guardian.
  14. ^ Davies, Rob (23 January 2022). "MPs criticise UK gambling regulator for trying to reduce addiction". The Guardian.
  15. ^ "MPS criticise UK gambling regulator for trying to reduce addiction". The Guardian . 23 January 2022.
  16. ^ "Committee on Standards – in the House of Commons at 12:49 pm on 3rd November 2021". TheyWorkForYou. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  17. ^ "'Harassed. Attacked. Arrested.' Humanists in Parliament hear about global worrying rise in non-religious persecution". Humanists UK. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  18. ^ "New officers elected by All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group". Humanists UK. 25 May 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  19. ^ Emily Atkinson (31 January 2022). "Tory backbencher asks if Boris Johnson 'thinks I'm a fool' for following Covid rules at grandmother's funeral". The Independent. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  20. ^ "Conservative Aaron Bell says he will not contest general election". BBC News. 31 May 2024. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  21. ^ Courea, Eleni (29 October 2024). "Ex-Tory MP reprimanded for 'brazen' sexual misconduct". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  22. ^ Burford, Rachael (29 October 2024). "Ex Tory whip Aaron Bell committed 'serious sexual misconduct' on young woman in Commons bar". Evening Standard.
  23. ^ Castle, Richard (2 November 2022). "BBC Only Connect host Victoria Coren Mitchell 'proud' of North Staffordshire MP for blasting Boris Johnson". Stoke Sentinel. Reach PLC. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  24. ^ "Aaron Bell MP". West Midlands. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  25. ^ "Q and a with Only Connect's question editors". 26 February 2018.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Newcastle-under-Lyme
2019–2024 		Succeeded by