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The Little Book of Bell

As Bell and his daughter walked back to their car, Guardian journalist John Sweeney joined them, sitting in the back next to BBC cameraman Peter Sherratt.  They could hardly conceal their delight at the result.  But they did, however, manage to conceal that it had all been arranged four days earlier…

    'A good result, eh?' Melissa crowed.
    'A good result,' replied her father.
    'Wonderful, well done!' added Sweeney.
    'What do you reckon to that?'  Melissa said, laughing.
    'Prescott was brilliant tonight,' exclaimed Martin.
    'He's a star!!' interrupted Sweeney.  Then, in a moment of unguardedness, no doubt due to high spirits, Sweeney let slip: 'You know we've been spinning away! (breaks into laughter).  'We are supposed to be reporters! - we've spent the entire time spinning!'
    'Things went really well…' added Melissa.
    'Great.  You're getting better…you're getting better…' gushed Sweeney again.
    Then, the former war reporter outlined one of his needs for the battle ahead.  'I need minding,' he whined.  'I need people who can get me in and out of cars and so on…..'

Meanwhile, there was still the little matter of the LibDem's re-selection committee, half of whom refused point-blank to be steamrollered.  Disgracefully, Bell's friend, Paddy Ashdown, sent the committee a strong letter making clear that they should sanction the Liberal Democrat candidate's withdrawal.
    And so the LibDems caved in, keeping Ashdown's interference confidential.  One of the members of the committee admitted later that there was no doubt that Ashdown's intervention was the deciding factor, adding that, as far as he was concerned, it was his status as a Privy Councillor that made him change his mind.  Which just goes to show.  The vote was announced on 14 April 1997 as being unanimous in favour of withdrawing their candidate, Roger Barlow.

History will judge Paddy Ashdown's role as one of the most shameful in this whole affair.  But to his credit, physics teacher Roger Barlow neither judged Hamilton nor endorsed Bell, citing instead a different reason to justify his withdrawal.
    As Barlow told the Northwich Chronicle: 'Standing down was a difficult decision for me and the local party, but this election in Tatton is exceptional.  That is not because we have an MP accused of wrong behaviour, but because the way the Downey Report has been kicked into touch.'

And so with the way ahead cleared, Bell telephoned his contacts in the Labour and LibDem Parties to rustle up some troops.

Mindful that Tatton (being under the national spotlight) would keep the sleaze issue uppermost, both Labour and the Lib Dems figured that helping Bell would be an effective use of their own manpower.  So they released scores of volunteers from their planned duties and dispatched key staff from London to organise them.
    The BBC crew filmed Bell and Melissa, reclined on a bed, discussing with others (who were out of shot) the people they needed for their campaign.
    'Where's John Underwood?', Martin asked his daughter.
    'I reminded the Labour Party that we needed him,' replied Melissa, 'and on his way is Alan Olive - do you know him? - he's on his way.'
    'Yeah.... he's bringing the maps and things like that,' uttered a voice out of shot.
    'He's the Labour Party's nuts and bolts man?' asked Martin.  'From where?'
    But before the person out of shot could give the answer, Melissa interrupted.  'I think we could all go in the office and do this…we've got a great back room that's private which is…where we're all going to…'
    Not getting the hint, a second person out of shot continued: 'Yeah, he's meant to be very good at the nuts and bolts and just what we need.'
    'Yeah, and he's bringing someone else with him,' added another disembodied voice.  But then Martin finally got Melissa's cue.  He turned to the camera operator, Peter Sherratt.
    'Peter,' Bell pleaded, 'we'd better switch off at this point it's getting a bit…'

The 'nuts and bolts' man, Alan Olive, was the Elections Officer, Labour Party Headquarters, London, who was sent up to organise the Labour troops (accompanied by Labour volunteer Major Peter Bracken, whom Melissa would eventually marry).  To marshal the Lib Dem contingent, Paddy Ashdown sent up Bill le Breton, President of the Association of Liberal Democratic Councillors.

When Bell was asked what kind of help he received from the political parties throughout his campaign, he told the BBC: 'I received some advice…' Later, Bell said: 'I had input from all three parties, but the input from the Conservatives had to be done rather more tactfully and at times almost secretly.'
    To describe the help he received from the opposition parties as being merely advice, is, frankly, dishonest. And only one Tory politician, dissident former Councillor Lawrence Hobday, endorsed Bell's stance - and that was in response to Bell's own desperate pleas for a 'prominent' Tory to join his campaign so he could claim all-party support.  Which is exactly what Bell did once the lowly Hobday had climbed aboard.
    But apart from political activists, Bell received support from other media stars.  Bell's friend, American TV star David Soul, and Bell's old pal from Bosnia, Colonel Bob Stewart, provided fulsome praise and support.  John Stalker, former Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, also turned up to give his backing, in front of the cameras.
    That a former senior police officer, who could not have had any knowledge of the facts, could support Bell's stance, which was based on unproved allegations against a person who denied them emphatically, gives a dazzling insight into the British media's brainwashing influence - and Stalker's indoctrination therefrom.

Over the following weeks Martin Bell's advisers organised well over three hundred volunteers to distribute thousands of leaflets and erect hundreds of posters and placards.  And, though one hopes Bell's supporters were not acting on advice, there were a number of reports that his troops were seen enthusiastically tearing down Hamilton's election paraphernalia.

And so, with such enormous logistical support; plus the withdrawal of the two opposition parties; plus his own and his daughter's popularity with the media; and (as if that wasn't enough) The Guardian's national and local Press campaign (via the Knutsford Express & Wilmslow Express, which are both owned and controlled by The Guardian - see Section Four of this website), Martin Bell's victory was assured.

Chapter Two, Part Three

Chapter Three