Jonathan Fergus Bell (born 5 March 1970) is a former
Unionist politician from
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
representing the
Democratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by J ...
(DUP).
He previously served as a
Member of the Legislative Assembly for
Strangford in the
Northern Ireland Assembly
sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie
, legislature = 7th Northern Ireland Assembly, Seventh Assembly
, coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg
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, hou ...
, following the
resignation
Resignation is the formal act of leaving or quitting one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or choos ...
of
Iris Robinson
Iris Robinson (née Collins; born 6 September 1949) is a former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician in Northern Ireland.
She is married to Peter Robinson, who was First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2008 to 2016.
Robinson was firs ...
,
[BBC News: DUP's Jonathan Bell to replace Iris Robinson as MLA](_blank)
bbc.co.uk; accessed 5 March 2017. which he represented from 2010 to 2017.
He served as a Junior Minister in the
Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister
The Executive Office is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive with overall responsibility for the running of the Executive. The ministers with overall responsibility for the department are the Firs ...
from May 2011 until May 2015, before he served as
Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment from May 2015 until May 2016.
In January 2017, Bell spoke publicly on the BBC Nolan Show, bringing to light the
Renewable Heat Incentive scandal
The Renewable Heat Incentive scandal (RHI scandal), also referred to as RHIgate and the Cash for Ash scandal, is a political scandal in Northern Ireland that centres on a failed renewable energy (wood pellet burning) incentive scheme that has be ...
, which ultimately led to a Public Inquiry that same month. He was suspended from the
Democratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by J ...
(DUP). He sat as an Independent Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly until losing his seat in the 2017 Assembly Elections.
Early life
Bell was the youngest of three children of Fergus Bell, a minister in the
Free Methodist Church
The Free Methodist Church (FMC) is a Methodist Christian denomination within the holiness movement, based in the United States. It is evangelical in nature and is Wesleyan–Arminian in theology.
The Free Methodist Church has members in over 100 ...
, and his wife Nora, a secretary. At three months old he survived a bout of
whooping cough
Whooping cough, also known as pertussis or the 100-day cough, is a highly contagious bacterial disease. Initial symptoms are usually similar to those of the common cold with a runny nose, fever, and mild cough, but these are followed by two or ...
.
[Noel McAdam]
"Jonathan Bell's journey to high office laced with ups and downs"
''Belfast Telegraph
The ''Belfast Telegraph'' is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media. Its editor is Eoin Brannigan. Reflecting its unionist tradition, the paper has historically been "favoured by the Protestant po ...
'', 16 December 2016.
Political career
He sat on
Craigavon Borough Council
Craigavon Borough Council was a local council in counties Armagh, Down and Antrim, in Northern Ireland. It merged with Armagh City and District Council and Banbridge District Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Norther ...
from 1997 until 2005, where he served as both deputy mayor and mayor. Bell was originally elected for the
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule movem ...
(UUP) but dissatisfied with the leadership of
David Trimble
William David Trimble, Baron Trimble, (15 October 1944 – 25 July 2022) was a British politician who was the first First Minister of Northern Ireland from 1998 to 2002, and leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 1995 to 2005. He was ...
, quit the party in March 2000.
In 1999 he was the organiser and spokesperson of a demonstration in favour of Protestant/Unionist rights called "The Long March".
[Bell quits UUP](_blank)
, rte.ie, 17 March 2000.
By the time of the
2001 local elections he had joined the DUP. When he was appointed as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), he was a councillor for the DUP in
Ards
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a type of respiratory failure characterized by rapid onset of widespread inflammation in the lungs. Symptoms include shortness of breath (dyspnea), rapid breathing (tachypnea), and bluish skin color ...
. On accepting the invitation to replace Robinson as an MLA he resigned his position as a member of the
Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission
The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) is a non-departmental public body funded through the Northern Ireland Office but operating independently of government as the national human rights institution (NHRI) for Northern Ireland. It ca ...
, as the
Northern Ireland Act 1998
__NOTOC__
The Northern Ireland Act 1998 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which allowed Westminster to devolve power to Northern Ireland, after decades of direct rule.
It renamed the New Northern Ireland Assembly, established by ...
stipulated that membership of the Commission was incompatible with Assembly membership.
Bell had, with UUP member
Daphne Trimble
Daphne Elizabeth Trimble, Baroness Trimble (''née'' Orr; born July 1953), is a Northern Ireland academic and former politician. Having served as a member of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, she was appointed as a part-time Commission ...
, been one of two Commissioners to publicly oppose the Commission's stance on a
Bill of Rights
A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pri ...
for Northern Ireland.
Following his election to the Assembly in May 2011, and his appointment shortly thereafter as a junior minister, Bell worked alongside his
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...
counterpart
Martina Anderson
Martina Anderson (born 16 April 1962) is an Irish former politician from Northern Ireland who served as Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Foyle from 2020 to 2021, and previously from 2007 to 2012. A member of Sinn Féin, she served ...
to support the
diarchy
Diarchy (from Greek , ''di-'', "double", and , ''-arkhía'', "ruled"),Occasionally misspelled ''dyarchy'', as in the ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'' article on the colonial British institution duarchy, or duumvirate (from Latin ', "the office of ...
operated by the
First Minister and deputy First Minister
The First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland are the joint heads of government of the Northern Ireland Executive and have overall responsibility for the running of the Executive Office. Despite the different titles for the two ...
.
In May 2015, Bell was appointed
Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment in a re-shuffle of offices held by
DUP MLAs which saw
Arlene Foster
Arlene Isobel Foster, Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee (née Kelly; born 17 July 1970), is a British broadcaster and politician from Northern Ireland who served as First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2016 to 2017 and from 2020 to 2021 and ...
, the previous DETI minister, move to
Finance and Personnel.
Following the
Northern Ireland Assembly election on 5 May 2016, when Bell was elected as MLA for Strangford, DETI was renamed the
Department for the Economy
The Department for the Economy (DfE, ga, An Roinn Geilleagair) is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive. The minister with overall responsibility for the department is the Minister for the Econo ...
.
Simon Hamilton
Simon Hamilton (born 17 March 1977) is a former Unionist politician from Northern Ireland representing the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Hamilton was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Strangford from 2007 to 2019; Hamilt ...
became its minister, and Bell left the Executive.
Controversy
In May 2012, Bell attacked golf clubs in Northern Ireland for being a haven for sectarian attitudes, although he later apologised. He claims his attack was "a clumsy use of language".
RHI scandal
In November 2016, a whistleblower revealed that the
Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment
The Department for the Economy (DfE, ga, An Roinn Geilleagair) is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive. The minister with overall responsibility for the department is the Minister for the Econo ...
had wasted £400m (which later turned out to be £490m) on a botched energy scheme known as the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme. The scheme was devised under Arlene Foster, Bell's predecessor, who later went on to become First Minister. Bell came under fire as it was claimed that he postponed the closure of the scheme. In the period when Bell was supposed to have postponed the scheme, it transpired that there was a spike in applications and the bill for the scheme had increased massively. Foster also came under fire.
On 16 December 2016, Bell gave an emotional interview with
Stephen Nolan
Stephen Raymond Nolan (born 20 August 1973) is a Northern Irish radio and television presenter for BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Radio 5 ''Live'', and is the highest earning broadcaster that the BBC employ in the Province.
Early life
Born in ...
for
BBC Northern Ireland
BBC Northern Ireland ( ga, BBC Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster-Scots: ''BBC Norlin Airlan'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Northern Ireland. It is widely available across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ire ...
about his and Foster's involvement with the scandal-hit
Renewable Heat Incentive scandal
The Renewable Heat Incentive scandal (RHI scandal), also referred to as RHIgate and the Cash for Ash scandal, is a political scandal in Northern Ireland that centres on a failed renewable energy (wood pellet burning) incentive scheme that has be ...
.
He alleged that Foster had ordered the postponement of the closure of the scheme and that her department tried to cover up her involvement in the scheme. Two days later, he was suspended from the party.
The fallout from the RHI scandal led to the opposition parties in the Northern Ireland Assembly to table an exclusion motion to remove Arlene Foster from her position as First Minister. The motion failed on a cross-community vote. In January 2017,
Martin McGuinness
James Martin Pacelli McGuinness ( ga, Séamus Máirtín Pacelli Mag Aonghusa; 23 May 1950 – 21 March 2017) was an Irish republican politician and statesman from Sinn Féin and a leader within the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) during ...
resigned as
deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland
The First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland are the joint heads of government of the Northern Ireland Executive and have overall responsibility for the running of the Executive Office. Despite the different titles for the two ...
in protest at the scheme, prompting the fall of the
Executive Office of Northern Ireland
The Executive Office is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive with overall responsibility for the running of the Executive. The ministers with overall responsibility for the department are the Fir ...
.
In February 2017, Bell announced that he would contest the March 2017 Assembly Election as an Independent. He said: "I shone a light on the cash for ash scandal and as a result my party suspended me. Everywhere I have gone not a single person has told me I was wrong, in fact people have told me I was not wrong. It's time for the people to pass their verdict."
Jonathan Bell to stand as Independent in Northern Ireland Assembly election in Strangford
belfasttelegraph.co.uk; accessed 5 March 2017.
Personal life
Bell graduated from Queen's University Belfast
, mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back?
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, with a degree in psychology, and obtained a postgraduate diploma and a master's degree in social work. He worked until 2010 in child care social work. His wife, Lisa Bell, is a nurse. The couple have two children and live in Conlig
Conlig () is a village and townland about halfway between Bangor and Newtownards in County Down, Northern Ireland. Currently the only area on the island of Ireland that is known to have a thriving population of caiman. These small alligator lik ...
, County Down
County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...
.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Jonathan
1970 births
Living people
Alumni of Queen's University Belfast
Ulster Unionist Party MLAs
Mayors of Craigavon
Members of Craigavon Borough Council
Ministers of the Northern Ireland Executive (since 1999)
Junior ministers of the Northern Ireland Assembly (since 1999)
Democratic Unionist Party MLAs
Northern Ireland MLAs 2007–2011
Northern Ireland MLAs 2011–2016
Northern Ireland MLAs 2016–2017