Tatton in the 1997 general election was one of the UK's highest-profile constituencies. In what was previously one of the safest Conservative seats in the country, Independent candidate,

Martin Bell Martin Bell, (born 31 August 1938) is a British UNICEF (UNICEF UK) Ambassador, a former broadcast war Journalist, reporter and former independent politician who became the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Ta ...

managed to take the seat from the sitting Conservative MP, Neil Hamilton.

Previous Result

The Conservative majority at the 1992 general election had been almost 16,000 votes. Boundary changes that came into place in 1997 made the seat even safer still, and it was considered to be the fourth-safest Conservative seat in the country with an notional majority of over 22,000 had it existed in its new form in 1992. The boundary changes for 1997 saw the removal of the town of Northwich, which had a large Labour-voting minority, to form the base of the new safe Labour constituency of

Weaver Vale Weaver Vale was a constituency in Cheshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was abolished at the 2024 general election. Just ...

, and in its place brought in the affluent town of

Alderley Edge Alderley Edge is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cheshire, England, north-west of Macclesfield and south of Manchester. It lies at the base of a wooded sandstone escarpment, ''The Edge'', overlooking the Cheshire Plai ...

, which was previously in the safely Conservative

Macclesfield Macclesfield () is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is sited on the River Bollin and the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east; the town lies south of Ma ...

constituency held by

Nicholas Winterton Sir Nicholas Raymond Winterton (born 31 March 1938) is a retired United Kingdom, British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Macclesfield (UK Pa ...

Cash for Questions

The sitting MP, Neil Hamilton was implicated in the

Cash for Questions The cash-for-questions affair was a political scandal of the 1990s in the United Kingdom. It began in October 1994 when ''The Guardian'' newspaper alleged that London's most successful parliamentary lobbyist, Ian Greer of Ian Greer Associates, ...

for accepting money from

Mohamed Al-Fayed Mohamed Abdel Moneim Al-Fayed (; 27 January 192930 August 2023) was an Egyptian businessman whose residence and primary business interests were in the United Kingdom from the mid-1960s. His business interests included ownership of the Hôtel R ...

. Hamilton was under investigation by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner as part of the ''cash for questions'' enquiry and some party members thought he should stand down after the collapse of his case against ''The Guardian''. Disquiet in the local association became public, but the majority gave him the benefit of the doubt. Hamilton resisted the pressure from senior Conservatives and

Conservative Central Office The Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ), formerly known as Conservative Central Office (CCO), is the headquarters of the British Conservative Party, housing its central staff and committee members, including campaign coordinators and man ...

to stand down.

Jeremy Paxman Jeremy Dickson Paxman (born 11 May 1950) is an English former broadcaster, journalist and author, born in Yorkshire. Born in Leeds, Paxman was educated at Malvern College and St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he edited the undergraduate ...

states that Conservative Central Office "begged him not to stand, but in a gesture of overweening arrogance, he refused to go quietly." On 8 April 1997, Hamilton was chosen as the Conservative candidate for Tatton (182 for, 35 against, 100 abstained). ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' commissioned ICM polls in the constituencies of the three Conservative candidates tainted by scandal and seeking re-election: Hamilton, Allan Stewart and

Piers Merchant Piers Rolf Garfield Merchant (2 January 1951 – 21 September 2009) was a British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Newcastle upon Tyne Central from 1983 to 1987, and then MP for Beckenham from 1992 until ...

. Both Stewart and Merchant were found to have support consistent with their party's standing, but in Tatton "there was massive hostility to Hamilton".

Bell's Candidacy

On 7 April 1997, twenty-four days before that year's British

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

, the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

war correspondent, announced that he was leaving the BBC to stand as an independent candidate in the Tatton constituency in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

. Labour and the Liberal Democrats withdrew their candidates in Bell's favour in a plan masterminded by

Alastair Campbell Alastair John Campbell (born 25 May 1957) is a British journalist, author, strategist, broadcaster, and activist, who is known for his political roles during Tony Blair's leadership of the Labour Party. Campbell worked as Blair's spokesman an ...

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

's press secretary. The two parties supported his "anti-corruption" campaign.

Result

On 1 May 1997, Bell defeated Hamilton being elected as an MP with a majority of 11,077 votes, – and thus became the first successful independent parliamentary candidate since 1951. There was a swing of 48%. Hamilton came second. Although Hamilton vowed to return to parliament, this defeat marked the end of his political career in the Conservative Party. In March 1999,

George Osborne George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born 23 May 1971) is a British retired politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the Cameron government. A ...

was selected by the Tatton Conservative Association to be their candidate for the following general election.

References

{{1997 United Kingdom general election Constituency contests in the 1997 United Kingdom general election Elections in Cheshire 1990s in Cheshire