Alexander James Douglas "Lex" Bell OAM (born 13 July 1945) is an Australian politician. Born in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

, he received a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

from Bond University and a Bachelor of Law from the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

before becoming a solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland. He was also on

Gold Coast City Council The City of Gold Coast is the local government area spanning the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia and surrounding areas. With a population of 606,774 it is the second most populous local government area in Australia (City of Brisbane being th ...

from 1985–2001, including a period as mayor 1988–1994. He was also a chancellor with the

Anglican Catholic Church The Anglican Catholic Church (ACC), also known as the Anglican Catholic Church (Original Province), is a body of Christians in the continuing Anglican movement, which is separate from the Anglican Communion led by the Archbishop of Canterbur ...

. On 20 March 2001, former National Party Premier and member for Surfers Paradise

Rob Borbidge Robert Edward Borbidge (born 12 August 1954) is a former Australian politician who served as the 35th Premier of Queensland from 1996 to 1998. He was the leader of the Queensland branch of the National Party, and was the last member of that p ...

resigned from the

Legislative Assembly of Queensland The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembl ...

. Bell contested the resulting by-election as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

. Due to voter anger at going back to the polls for the second time in three months, the National vote collapsed to eight percent, and Bell was elected with 58 percent of the two-candidate preferred vote. He held the seat until the 2004 state election, when he finished third on the primary vote, allowing his

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

challenger in 2001,

John-Paul Langbroek John-Paul Honoré Langbroek (born 31 January 1961) is an Australian politician who has been a member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland representing the centre-right Liberal Party and its successor, the centre-right Liberal National Part ...

, to win the seat. Mr Bell announced in late 2011 he would contest his former council seat of Division 7 in Surfers Paradise which he regained on 28 April 2012.

References

Independent members of the Parliament of Queensland 1945 births Living people Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Bond University alumni People from the Gold Coast, Queensland Mayors of Gold Coast 21st-century Australian politicians {{Australia-Independent-politician-stub