Post Political Life
Bell made a brief return to television news in 2003 when he provided analysis of the Iraq invasion for ITN's Channel Five News. The short films he compiled from the daily video footage brought a unique historical and humanitarian perspective to the events that was in stark contrast to the coverage of much of the mainstream media.
Bell reversed his previous decision and stood for the European Parliament in the June 2004 elections, but was ultimately unsuccessful as an independent candidate in the UK's eastern region, winning only 6.2% of the vote (see European Parliament election, 2004 (UK)).
Before the 2005 election he became affiliated with the Independent Network to help promote independent candidates (its most prominent candidate being Reg Keys who fought against prime minister Tony Blair in the Sedgefield constituency).
Bell now acts as an ambassador for UNICEF and as a critic on the state of journalism today, although he describes himself as "too old" for both journalism and politics.
In April 2006, Scottish National Party MP Angus MacNeil asked the Metropolitan Police to investigate whether any law had been broken in the Cash for Peerages scandal. Bell wrote jointly with MacNeil to Prime Minister Tony Blair calling for all appointments to the House of Lords to be suspended.
In May 2009, he came out in support of the Green Party in the weeks before the 2009 European elections, supporting the Green Party's 'Clean Campaigning' pledge in the wake of the scandal over MPs' expenses.
On 21 May 2009, he appeared on the special live edition of BBC's Question Time which was held in Salisbury in the midst of the political scandal surrounding MPs' expenses.
He announced that he was considering standing against a third Conservative MP, Sir Nicholas Winterton, the MP for Macclesfield in the 2010 General Election, but following the latter's announcement that he was not going to seek re-election, did not do so. He indicated that he might stand against Hazel Blears in Salford (the first sitting MP of a party other than the Conservative party against whom he expressed an interest in standing) although in the end he did not stand in any constituency.
Read more about this topic: Martin Bell
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