Aaron Bell (politician)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Aaron Bell
MP
Official portrait of Aaron Bell MP crop 2.jpg
Member of Parliament
for Newcastle-under-Lyme
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byPaul Farrelly
Majority7,446 (16.6%)
Personal details
Born
Aaron Stuart Bell

(1980-02-25) 25 February 1980 (age 41)
Dulwich, Greater London, England
Political partyConservative
Alma materSt. John's College, Oxford

Aaron Stuart Bell (born 25 February 1980) is a British Conservative Party politician who was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Newcastle-under-Lyme in the 2019 general election.[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 in Greater London, and in America at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia. He then studied at St John's College, Oxford, where he read PPE.[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.[5][3]

Bell worked as a trading development manager from 2006 to 2017, being employed by Ladbrokes. He was a senior trading performance analyst from 2017 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 joined the Conservative Party in 2012, and took part in canvassing for the 2015 election. He stood in the Labour-held seat of Don Valley in South Yorkshire at the 2017 election, but was unsuccessful, despite turning the seat into a marginal.[8] He was selected as the Conservative candidate for Newcastle under Lyme on 24 September 2019.[9] The seat was one of the closest results at the 2017 election, with the Conservatives losing by only 30 votes.[10]

He entered Parliament in December 2019, following the 2019 general election, in which he received 52.5% of the vote, an increase in the Conservative share of 4.4%, and a margin of 7,446 over the Labour candidate, Carl Greatbatch.[11]

As of 21 January 2020, he has been an unpaid member of the board of Town Deal Newcastle-under-Lyme.[12][13]

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.[14]

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.[15]

Personal life[]

Bell lives in Leigh, Staffordshire, with his wife Emily, whom he married in 2008. They have three children.[16][8]

Bell declared a shareholding valued at more than £70,000, on 9 January 2020, in Rematch Credit Ltd., the parent company of interest-free credit provider DivideBuy, in the Register of Members' Financial Interests.[12]

Bell is non-religious and was elected Vice Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group, a group of humanist MPs and peers, in 2021.[17]

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 Statesmen. 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. ^ "Aaron Bell selected to stand up for Newcastle-under-Lyme". Aaron Bell MP. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  10. ^ "Newcastle-under-Lyme (Constituency) 2017 results - General election results - UK Parliament". electionresults.parliament.uk. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  11. ^ "Newcastle-under-Lyme parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  12. ^ a b "Bell, Aaron (Newcastle-under-Lyme)". House of Commons - Register of Members' Financial Interests. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  13. ^ "Newcastle-under-Lyme Town Deal". Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  14. ^ "Committee on Standards – in the House of Commons at 12:49 pm on 3rd November 2021". TheyWorkForYou. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  15. ^ Pickard, Jim (31 January 2022). "Live news: Several Conservative MPs speak out against Johnson". Financial Times. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  16. ^ "Aaron Bell MP". West Midlands. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  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.

External links[]

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Newcastle-under-Lyme
2019–present 		Incumbent
Retrieved from ""