Sir Ronald McMillan Bell QC (14 April 1914 – 27 February 1982) was a British

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Member of Parliament in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, representing South Buckinghamshire from 1950 to 1974 and

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, northwest of central London and southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High Wycombe. The ...

from 1974 to 1982. He also briefly represented the Newport constituency from a by-election in May 1945 until the general election two months later. He was appointed a

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1966 and was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in 1980.

Family and education

Born in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, the younger son of John Bell, the young Bell was educated at Cardiff High School and

Magdalen College Magdalen College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and one of the strongest academically, se ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, graduating BA in 1936 and MA in 1941. In 1935, he was first Secretary and later Treasurer of the Oxford Union Society, and was also President of the Oxford University Conservative Association. In 1954 he married Elizabeth Audrey, eldest daughter of Kenneth Gossell MC, of Burwash, Sussex, and by her had two sons, Andrew and Robert, and two daughters, Fiona and Lucinda. Lady Bell died on 13 May 2014, aged 86.

Military and civilian life

In 1938, Bell was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

from

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

, London, and then served in the

Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original ...

from 1939 to 1946, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. On 14 August 1940 he was promoted from Sub-Lieutenant to Lieutenant. After demobilisation he returned to practise as a

in London and on the South-Eastern Circuit. He

took silk A King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarch is a woman, the title is Qu ...

(became a Queen's Counsel) in 1966. In 1975, he was appointed as a member of Court of the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

Political career

Bell had unsuccessfully contested the

Caerphilly Caerphilly (, ; , ) is a town and community (Wales), community in Wales. It is situated at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley and separated from the Cardiff suburbs of Lisvane and Rhiwbina by Caerphilly Mountain. It is north of Cardiff an ...

Division of

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

at a by-election in 1938, but was elected as Conservative Member of Parliament for Newport at a by-election in May 1945. He lost that seat just two months later, at the general election in July 1945.Stephen Parker, 'Sir Ronald McMillan Bell' (obituary) in ''The Primrose League Gazette'', vol. 86, no. 2, April 1982 He was a member of Paddington Borough Council in London from 1947 to 1949, and was elected as Conservative MP for South Buckinghamshire at the 1950 general election. When that constituency was abolished, with effect from the February 1974 general election, he was elected for the new

from 1974. That year, he became a member of the Parliamentary Select committee on European Legislation.

Monday Club and rebellion against Edward Heath

Bell was an early (1962) and very active senior member of the

Conservative Monday Club The Conservative Monday Club (usually known as the Monday Club) was a British political pressure group, aligned with the Conservative Party, though no longer endorsed by it. It also had links to the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Ulster Unio ...

, and led the rebels in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

against the

Race Relations Act 1965 The Race Relations Act 1965 (c. 73) was the first legislation in the United Kingdom to address racial discrimination. The act outlawed discrimination on the "grounds of colour, race, or ethnic or national origins" in public places in Great Brit ...

and the subsequent extension by the Race Relations Act 1968. He argued against the importing of a new law affecting freedom of speech, and freedom to employ whoever one wishes, and, supported by

Enoch Powell John Enoch Powell (16 June 19128 February 1998) was a British politician, scholar and writer. He served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Wolverhampton South West for the Conservative Party (UK), Conserv ...

, said the Bill made "very deep and damaging encroachments into the proper sphere of personal decision". He also felt that the Bill was an effort to achieve unwarranted equality, and that it was "concerned solely and exclusively with the intention to achieve social equality". In a vote on 22 December 1964, Bell was one of the 91 Tory MPs to vote in favour of the abolition of the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

. On

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the Northern Hemisphere's March equinox, spring equinox and midsummer June solstice, solstice. Festivities ma ...

1970, he was one of the principal politicians to speak at the Monday Club's "Law and Liberty" rally in

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster in Central London. It was established in the early-19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. Its name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, the Royal Navy, ...

, London, in opposition to the "Stop the Seventy Tour" campaign aimed at stopping that year's

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

n cricket tour. Bell was still a member of the Monday Club's Executive Council in 1971 and 1972; and in September 1972 he was a principal speaker at the club's "Halt Immigration Now!" rally in

Westminster Central Hall The Methodist Central Hall (also known as Central Hall Westminster) is a multi-purpose venue in the City of Westminster, London, serving primarily as a Methodist church and a conference centre. The building also houses an art gallery, a restaur ...

, following which a resolution was passed calling upon the government to halt all immigration, repeal the Race Relations Act, and start a full repatriation scheme. That was delivered to

Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 1916 – 17 July 2005) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 ...

, then

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

, who said that the government had no intention of repealing the Act. In 1972, Bell and Powell were the leaders of an open rebellion against the leadership of Edward Heath, who retaliated against Bell by attempting to have him replaced as the Tory candidate for Beaconsfield by

Michael Heseltine Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, (; born 21 March 1933) is a British politician. Having begun his career as a property developer, he became one of the founders of the publishing house Haymarket Media Group in 1957. Heseltine se ...

, whose own seat at

Tavistock Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town and civil parish in the West Devon district, in the county of Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy, from which its name derives. At the 2011 census, the three electoral wards (N ...

was due for abolition in the current round of boundary changes and agreed to seek the nomination. A struggle within the local Conservative association ensued in which Bell's campaign was successfully masterminded by Hugh Simmonds, chairman of the Young Conservatives. Bell was opposed to the entry of Ugandan Asians into Britain, stating that "They (Ugandan Asians) were either born in India or retain a close connection with India, they have no connection to Britain by either blood or residence." In January 1973, Bell and Powell were opponents of Heath's Counter-Inflation Bill, with Bell arguing that prices and incomes policies were incompatible with the British way of life and were not Conservative measures. At the same time, Nicholas Ridley complained that what was needed was a "proper economic policy", and Richard Body stated that the real cause of inflation was too much government spending. In 1975, Bell supported

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

's successful bid to lead the party, having firstly voted for Sir Hugh Fraser against Edward Heath.

Death

Ronald Bell died of a heart attack in his office in the House of Commons on 27 February 1982. Earlier that day he had taken the chair at an anti-Common Market rally in London.

Honours

, 20 April 1966'Bell, Sir Ronald McMillan QC MP' in '' Who Was Who 1981-1990'' (vol. VIII) (London: A. & C. Black, 1991, ) *

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

, in 1980 New Year Honours; knighted by

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

on 12 February 1980.''The London Gazette'', Issue 48160, 18 April 1980
p. 5,815
/ref>

Publications

* Bell, Ronald, ''Crown Proceedings'', London, 1948

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Ronald 1914 births 1982 deaths 20th-century English lawyers Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Conservative Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies Conservative Party (UK) councillors English barristers Knights Bachelor Members of Gray's Inn Members of Paddington Metropolitan Borough Council Politics of Newport, Wales Presidents of the Oxford University Conservative Association Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 Welsh King's Counsel