Timothy John Leigh Bell, Baron Bell (18 October 1941 – 25 August 2019), was a British advertising and
public relations executive, best known for his advisory role in
Margaret Thatcher's three successful general
election campaign
A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referend ...
s and his co-founding and 30 years of heading
Bell Pottinger.
Early life and career
Bell was born in Southgate, North London on 18 October 1941, to
Belfast-born Arthur Leigh Bell, a
Crosse & Blackwell sales representative, and Greta Mary Finlay, an Australian. His father left the family when his son was four, moving to
South Africa and becoming a radio broadcaster known as "Uncle Paddy."
In 1952 his mother remarried Peter Pettit, the solicitor who had handled her divorce.
[''The Telegraph'' UK obit 28 August 2019] Bell was educated at Osidge Primary School and
Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Barnet
Queen Elizabeth's School, Barnet is a boys' grammar school in Barnet, northern Greater London, which was founded in 1573 by Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, and others, in the name of Queen Elizabeth I.
It is consistently ranked as one o ...
, and joined
ABC Weekend TV at 18 as a post boy.
["Tim Bell: 'There's never been so much tension between business and politicians'"](_blank)
telegraph.co.uk, 17 April 2010 He worked in various advertising/PR firms in the late 60s including the London agency Colman Prentice & Varley and later Geers Gross, before helping to found and becoming
managing director of
Saatchi and Saatchi in 1970, later serving as chairman and managing director of Saatchi and Saatchi Compton from 1975.
On 19 November 1977 Bell was fined £50 for indecency. He had exposed himself while
masturbating at his Hampstead bathroom window on 21 October in full view of female passers-by.
He left the Saatchis to join
Frank Lowe and Geoff Howard-Spink in 1985 to have his name on the door at Lowe Howard-Spink and Bell where he served as deputy chairman. Later, in 1989 he bought out the PR division which became his own agency, Lowe Bell Communications,
and he became chairman of
Chime Communications in 1994 (which included the
Bell Pottinger group).
Thatcher years
Bell was instrumental in the
Conservative general election campaign victories of
Margaret Thatcher and was seen as Thatcher's "favourite spin-doctor and confidante."
For her first
1979 victory, he developed the strategy for the '
Labour Isn't Working
"Labour Isn't Working" was an advertising campaign in the United Kingdom. It was run by the Conservative Party in 1978 in anticipation that Labour Party Prime Minister James Callaghan would call a general election. It was revived for the gener ...
' campaign, created by Saatchi creative director
Jeremy Sinclair
Jeremy Theodorson Sinclair (born 1946) is a British businessman and advertising executive who was a founding director in 1995 of ad agency M&C Saatchi, having earlier been one of the founders of Saatchi & Saatchi in 1970.
Early life and educatio ...
and Bell advised the future Prime Minister on interview techniques, clothing, and even hairstyle choices. He also courted newspaper editors and worked on devastating attacks on the
Labour Party.
In 1984 Bell was seconded to the
National Coal Board to advise on media strategy at the start of the
miners' strike
Miners' strikes are when miners conduct strike actions.
See also
* List of strikes
References
{{Reflist
Miners
A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are tw ...
. He worked on
media relations and helped set the terms of the negotiations and course of government policy.
Bell was
knighted
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
in 1991 after nomination by Margaret Thatcher, and created a
Life Peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...
after nomination as a Conservative
working peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages Ac ...
as Baron Bell ''of
Belgravia in the
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and London boroughs, borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of cent ...
'' on 31 July 1998. He was often later seen on panels and current affairs programmes discussing the issues of the day, and was chairman of the Conservative Party's ''Keep the £ Campaign''. He also served on various arts and public administration bodies. On 8 April 2013 it was Bell who officially announced the
news of Lady Thatcher's death.
International work
Bell advised
Hernán Büchi, a former minister of the
Pinochet dictatorship, in the
presidential election of 1989. Büchi eventually lost by a large margin to
Patricio Aylwin.
Lord Bell, a friend of Russian tycoon
Boris Berezovsky, handled the media attention behind poisoned Russian ex-spy
Alexander Litvinenko
Alexander Valterovich "Sasha" Litvinenko (30 August 1962 ( at WebCite) or 4 December 1962 – 23 November 2006) was a British-naturalised Russian defector and former officer of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) who specialised i ...
, who died in hospital 23 November 2006. The Bell Pottinger Communications agency distributed a photograph showing a hairless Litvinenko in his hospital bed. The PR Agency also offered advice to relatives of Litvinenko and his spokesman
Alex Goldfarb.
In December 2006, Lord Bell successfully lobbied on behalf of the
Saudi government to discontinue the
Serious Fraud Office investigation into alleged bribes in the
Al Yamamah arms deal.
Lord Bell also performed public relations work for the authoritarian government of
Belarus, and for the
Pinochet Foundation (Fundación Pinochet). In addition, he worked as an advisor to former Malaysian Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad
Mahathir bin Mohamad ( ms, محاضير بن محمد, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author, and physician who served as the 4th and 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the office ...
.
In late 2011, Bell's lobbying interests were investigated by the
Bureau of Investigative Journalism for ''
The Independent'' newspaper which reported claims that the company attempts to interfere with Google results to "drown" out coverage of human rights abuses, that his employees had altered
English Wikipedia entries to create a better impression of clients and had easy access (via former Conservative MP
Tim Collins) to the Cameron government and others overseas.
[Melanie Newman and Oliver Wright]
"Caught on camera: top lobbyists boasting how they influence the PM"
''The Independent'', 6 December 2011 Bell Pottinger, via a sting operation, were found to be willing to work for the authoritarian regime in Uzbekistan.
Bell launched an internal inquiry, but believed he had been singled out for his connection with Mrs Thatcher.
[Stephen Robinso]
"'Of course I regret it, I need it like a hole in the head, all this s**t'"
''Evening Standard'' (London), 8 December 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
Chime disposed of Bell Pottinger in June 2012 (while retaining a 25% stake in the business), when Bell also resigned as a director of Chime.
Bell Pottinger exit under cloud of PR malpractice
Bell Pottinger announced Lord Bell's departure as chairman to set up an advisory firm, Sans Frontières Associates, in August 2016. He retained a 7% stake in Bell Pottinger.
Tony Walford, partner at Green Square stated, "Perhaps not coincidentally, Sans Frontières was the original name of the public relations firm he set up before it was renamed Bell Pottinger; it was also the name of the unit that handled the firm's controversial lobbying and consultancy work for the governments of countries such as
Belarus and
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
."
A "leading PR figure" told ''
The Times'' that his resignation from his own agency didn't come as a surprise, saying: "Ultimately, he did not fit with the kind of corporate image Bell Pottinger wanted to project", in the end.
Walford explains that, "there is big money to be made from representing governments and other entities, no matter how reviled they are. The problem is, this kind of activity sits increasingly uneasily with corporates keen on projecting a responsible image."
In January 2017, the ''
Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'' reported that
Johann Rupert, CEO of
Remgro and
Richemont, ended an 18-year-old contract with Bell Pottinger due to their 'concerted effort on social and other media to discredit him'. Rupert had spoken out against
state capture
State capture is a type of systemic political corruption in which private interests significantly influence a state's decision-making processes to their own advantage.
The term was first used by the World Bank, around the year 2000, to describe ...
and called on President
Jacob Zuma
Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan name Msholozi, and was a former anti-aparth ...
to resign "for the sake of our children". As the
Guptas
The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed from the early 4th century CE to late 6th century CE. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 467 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent. This period is considered as the Gol ...
back
Zuma, Rupert asserted that Bell Pottinger painted him as the embodiment of "white monopoly capital" and as the counterweight to the Guptas and state capture, an example of how state capture allegedly worked under apartheid.
Eleven months after leaving Bell Pottinger and six days after the
Public Relations and Communications Association
The Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) is a trade association for the public relations sector in the United Kingdom. The association lobbies on behalf of its member companies and also provides a forum for sharing information. ...
(PRCA) acknowledged receipt of the
Democratic Alliance's complaint,
on 11 July 2017 Bell announces for the first recorded time to ''
PRWeek'' that he had left Bell Pottinger after raising his concerns about its "smelly" relationship with the
Gupta family
The Gupta family is a wealthy Indian-born family with business interests in South Africa, whose most notable members are brothers Ajay, Atul, and Rajesh "Tony" Gupta—as well as Atul's nephews Varun, and US-based Ashish and Amol. The family ow ...
's Oakbay conglomerate in South Africa but that they had "completely ignored me"; Bell Pottinger denied his claims.
The PRCA expelled Bell Pottinger for at least five years from September 2017 for inflaming racial tensions in
South Africa. The PRCA found Bell Pottinger guilty of four breaches of its code of conduct and dispensed its toughest possible punishment. PRCA director-general, Francis Ingham told the ''
Financial Times'', "This is the most blatant instance of unethical PR practice I’ve ever seen. Bell Pottinger's work has set back South Africa by possibly 10 years."
During a live ''
Newsnight'' interview on 4 September 2017, Lord Bell mentioned that he was the most senior director at the several hour long initial meeting with the
Guptas
The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed from the early 4th century CE to late 6th century CE. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 467 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent. This period is considered as the Gol ...
. Bell explained to
Kirsty Wark that upon his return to London he told Bell Pottinger CEO
James Henderson, "it's a very interesting piece of business but we can't handle it because there's a conflict of interest".
Wark then read Bell his own email, dated 26 January 2016, stating, "The trip was a great success and we will put forward a deal whereby we will earn £100,000 per month plus costs and I will oversee this and make further reports." Wark asserted that the email was in "direct conflict with what you just said". Bell went on to deny this on the basis the email was sent before his return to London. Rather than oversee the deal, Bell claimed that upon his return "I did absolutely nothing", but Bell Pottinger "submitted a
eeproposal". Bell went on to deny Wark's assertion that he is the senior figure working on the Gupta account, but rather he is a "father figure of the meeting". Wark asked that when Bell, as the founder of the company, stated that there was a conflict of interest, "nobody listens? Really?" Bell responded, "Nobody listens to me. That's why I left the company". Wark then produced a further Bell-authored email, dated 3 months later (April 2016), in which Bell offered further advice regarding the account. Bell retorted, "You can attack me all you like but I had nothing to do with getting this account."
Bell's ''Newsnight'' performance was pilloried by the UK press, with ''
The Spectator'' labelling it, "Lord Bell's ''Newsnight'' PR disaster".
The ''
Daily Express
The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...
''s take was, "Lord Bell was left red-faced after his phone rang twice while he was live on air during a ''Newsnight'' interview.".
An alternative view of what happened was published in ''The Drum'' on 5 September 2019. It stated Bell had a genuine desire to help the Indian-descended Guptas from being discriminated against in South Africa. However, Bell suffered a stroke in 2016 and was put on three months medical leave. CEO James Henderson used Bell's absence to ensure the account was run exclusively by his financial PR Team, under Victoria Geoghegan. Fake Twitter accounts were set up accusing white businessmen, such as Johann Rupert, of "white monopoly capital". When Bell returned from medical leave, he had a row with Henderson telling him he had to resign the account and when he refused, Bell resigned from the company. After the story broke in 2017, Johann Rupert claimed Bell was "the only person to have acted with honour in the entire affair."
The story of Bell's rise and fall is covered in ''
Influence'', a 2020 Canadian/South African documentary film directed by Richard Poplak and Diana Neille, and described as a hugely detailed, unnerving exposé.
Personal life
Bell was married three times: first, in the 1960s, to Suzanne Cordran (marriage dissolved in 1985); in 1988 he married Virginia Hornbrook with whom he had a son and daughter (marriage dissolved in 2016); in 2017, he married Jacky Phillips.
[
Bell died from complications of vascular parkinsonism at his home in London on 25 August 2019.]
Arms
References
External links
Lukashenko's PR man sheds light on EU campaign
EU Observer, 10 October 2008
Minsk.by, 28 May 2008
'' The Independent'', 13 March 2004
Announcement of his introduction at the House of Lords
House of Lords minutes of proceedings, 14 October 1998
Parliamentary voting record for Lord Bell
Belarusian have answered to Lord Bell
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Timothy
1941 births
2019 deaths
British advertising executives
Businesspeople awarded knighthoods
Conservative Party (UK) life peers
English memoirists
English people of Australian descent
Knights Bachelor
People educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School for Boys
20th-century English businesspeople
Life peers created by Elizabeth II