ملف:Martin Bell in 2009.jpg

English: Chris Mullin was signing my copy of his diary "A View From The Foothills" when Martin Bell popped out from the cafe to have a word with him, both were kind enough to indulge my picture request. I have been meaning to read Chris Mullin's diary for years - it was first published in 2009 and is now in its 14th. reprint. The diary reminded me of Harold Nicholson's "Diaries And Letters" covering 1939-1962 both enjoyed ringside seats close to the inner workings of government without exposure to potentially distorting legacy-concerns of the highest-offices. Comparing Mullin with Nicholson's diaries highlights just how much modern political diary-keeping has become a more personally confessional business.. (I wonder who will be scribbling away at a similar record of our coalition experiment)? I admire these two men, for their honourable contributions to the body politic. Martin Bell was the anti-sleeze MP for Tatton and Chris Mullin's parliamentary expenses claims were notorious for their modesty being among the most lowest on record: famously featuring the indulgence of a £45 black & white TV license for his London office. Parliament is a poorer place without them but they do demonstrate an old political truism (I just invented it), that if you want a good MP, don't vote for a snappy dresser! I have two of Martin Bell's books: An Accidental MP, which he kindly signed for me at the Keswick Literature Festival in 2007 and his journalistic title: Through The Gates Of Fire - A Journey Through World Disorder, fortunately things are pretty settled in Hexham.