*** DEBUG START ***
*** DEBUG END ***

Terry Waite may stand as an MP

by
19 August 2009

by Bill Bowder

PA

PA

TERRY WAITE, a former secretary for Anglican Communion affairs to the Archbishop of Canterbury, and a Beirut hostage 20 years ago, may stand as an independent parli­amentary can­did­ate at the next election, it em­erged this week, . On Wednesday, a spokes­­woman for Mr Waite, who is overseas, con­firmed that he was considering the move along with the former BBC journalist and in­depend­ent MP, Martin Bell; but “he hasn’t made a de­cision one way or another,” she said.

Mr Bell told the BBC on Monday that the two men had teamed up after Mr Waite wrote a newspaper article arguing for more independ­ent par­liamentary candidates. He had written that independent MPs “won’t have all the answers, but they may well bring some fresh air into a political hot­house that has been suffocating for far too long”.

The pair had considered fielding a team of independent candidates as well as standing themselves, Mr Bell said. Their idea was to target con­stitu­encies where MPs had been “named and shamed” over their ex­penses.

The plan was a “quiet conspiracy between old chums” rather than a new political party, he said. He had not ruled out standing, although, he said, “I think I am a bit old, at 70, to be the piston rods of revolution.” Mr Waite “may have a go himself”.

Mr Bell was an independent MP for four years after defeating the Con­servative MP Neil Hamilton, in 1997. The former TV presenter Esther Rantzen has announced that she will fight Luton South, where Mar­garet Moran MP was criticised over her parliamentary expenses.

Browse Church and Charity jobs on the Church Times jobsite

Forthcoming Events

Women Mystics: Female Theologians through Christian History

13 January - 19 May 2025

An online evening lecture series, run jointly by Sarum College and The Church Times

tickets available

 

Festival of Faith and Literature

28 February - 2 March 2025

tickets available

 

Visit our Events page for upcoming and past events 

Welcome to the Church Times

 

To explore the Church Times website fully, please sign in or subscribe.

Non-subscribers can read four articles for free each month. (You will need to register.)