Angie Marion Bell (born 11 July 1968) is an Australian politician who has been a member of the House of Representatives since the 2019 federal election, representing the

Division of Moncrieff The Division of Moncrieff is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. Geography Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Aust ...

in Queensland. She is a member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland and sits with the Liberal Party in federal parliament.

Early life

Bell was born in Adelaide. She attended

Gawler High School Gawler and District College is a public early learning centre and primary and secondary school located in the suburb of Evanston on the southern side of Gawler, north of the city centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. The colle ...

, where she learned the tenor saxophone and came to the attention of jazz musician Don Burrows. She subsequently won a scholarship from Rotary International to study music in Denmark. When she returned to Australia she enrolled in the Elder Conservatorium of Music, studying jazz, saxophone, and voice. Prior to entering politics, Bell worked as a professional musician for 35 years. She also worked as a sales agent across several Australian states before settling in Queensland in 2002, where she worked with the National Retail Association as a consultant and workplace trainer. From 2010 she worked for Paint Place as visual merchandising manager (2010–2015) and national business development manager (2015–2018). Bell attended Griffith University as a mature-age student, completing a graduate certificate in marketing. In 2014 she wrote a book on rebranding and marketing for small businesses.

Politics

Bell joined the Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) at the age of 45. She served as president of LNP Women Queensland from 2017 to 2019. In April 2019, Bell won LNP preselection for the

, replacing the retiring MP Steven Ciobo. According to '' The Australian'', she defeated eight other candidates in an "upset victory". She retained Moncrieff for the Liberals at the 2019 federal election, with a small positive swing to the party. Bell is a member of the Moderate/Modern Liberal faction of the Liberal Party.

Personal life

Bell is in a long-term relationship with her partner Ros, who has four adult children. She is the first openly gay woman to represent a major party in the House of Representatives, the second overall after independent Kerryn Phelps, and the fifth gay woman in federal parliament.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Angie 1968 births Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Moncrieff Liberal National Party of Queensland politicians Women members of the Australian House of Representatives LGBT legislators in Australia LGBT conservatism Lesbian politicians Marketing women 21st-century Australian women politicians 21st-century Australian politicians Australian saxophonists Politicians from Adelaide 21st-century LGBT people