The former BBC war correspondent Mr Martin Bell has announced his "provisional" intention to stand as an Independent at the next general election, despite his original promise that he would be a one-term MP.
Mr Bell won the Tatton seat in Cheshire from Mr Neil Hamilton on an anti-sleaze ticket at the last general election and said he would serve only one term as the town's MP. He told a press conference in the Brentwood and Ongar constituency yesterday that being an MP was "the best thing" which had ever happened to him, and he regretted his decision to stand only once.
He had been invited to stand for the seat by concerned locals amid claims that the local Conservative constituency association had been infiltrated by evangelical Christians. But he stressed he was not making any allegations of sleaze against current Conservative MP for Brentwood and Ongar Mr Eric Pickles. He said he would make a decision about whether he would stand when the Prime Minister announced an election date.