Editing Neil Hamilton (politician) (section)

===Loss of Tatton===
Prior to the [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997 general election]], Hamilton determined to try to retain his parliamentary seat. His majority at the 1992 general election had been almost 16,000 votes. In 1997, Tatton was the fourth safest Conservative seat in Britain. Hamilton was under investigation by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner as part of the ''cash for questions'' enquiry and some party members thought he should stand down after the collapse of his case against ''The Guardian''.<ref>The 1997 General Election edited by D. T. Denver, p. 83. {{ISBN|0714649090}}.</ref> Disquiet in the local association became public, but the majority gave him the benefit of the doubt.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/archive/1996/10/09/5325758.NEIL_Hamilton_should_step_down_as_Knutsford_s_MP_now__a_true_blue_Tory_argued_this_week_/?ref=arc |title=Neil Hamilton should step down as Knutsford's MP now, a true blue Tory argued this week |work=Warrington Guardian |date=9 October 1996|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140725171525/http://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/archive/1996/10/09/5325758.NEIL_Hamilton_should_step_down_as_Knutsford_s_MP_now__a_true_blue_Tory_argued_this_week_/?ref=arc |archivedate=25 July 2014}}</ref>
Hamilton resisted the pressure from senior Conservatives and [[Conservative Central Office]] to stand down. [[Jeremy Paxman]] states that Conservative Central Office "begged him not to stand, but in a gesture of overweening arrogance, he refused to go quietly."<ref>Jeremy Paxman, ''The Political Animal'', 2002, {{ISBN|9780141032962}}</ref>
On 8 April 1997, Hamilton was chosen as the Conservative candidate for Tatton (182 for, 35 against, 100 abstained). ''[[The Observer]]'' commissioned ICM polls in the constituencies of the three Conservative candidates tainted by scandal and seeking re-election: Hamilton, [[Allan Stewart (politician)|Allan Stewart]] and [[Piers Merchant]]. Both Stewart and Merchant were found to have support consistent with their party's standing, but in Tatton "there was massive hostility to Hamilton".<ref>Bruce Page, ''The Murdoch Archipelago'', 2003, {{ISBN|9781849837798}}.</ref>

When [[Martin Bell]], the BBC war correspondent, announced he would stand as an independent candidate in Tatton, the Labour and Liberal Democrat candidates for the area stood down in order to give Bell a clear run against Hamilton. Bell defeated Hamilton, winning by a majority of over 11,000 votes with a swing of 48%. Although Hamilton vowed to return to parliament, this defeat marked the end of his political career in the Conservative Party. In March 1999, [[George Osborne]] was selected by the Tatton Conservative Association to be their candidate for the following general election.