Editing Stuart Bell (section)

==Criticism and controversy==
In 2002 his son, [[Malcolm Bell (entrepreneur)|Malcolm]], was jailed after admitting to stealing £8,000 from  his father's colleagues, while he worked in Parliament.<ref>{{cite news |title=MP's son jailed for Commons theft |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1860934.stm |website=BBC News |date=7 March 2002 |access-date=6 February 2022}}</ref>

On 13 October 2009, he claimed on the BBC ''[[Today (BBC Radio 4)|Today]]'' programme that the investigation by [[Thomas Legg|Sir Thomas Legg]] into the [[United Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal]] was marked by "retrospectivity", as Sir Thomas had changed the rules on expenses after MPs' claims had been submitted.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8304000/8304185.stm |title=MPs' grievance over expenses letters|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602235345/http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8304000/8304185.stm |archivedate=2 June 2016 |website=BBC News |date=13 October 2009 |accessdate=13 October 2009}}</ref>

Stuart Bell featured in a film of the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010 general election]] entitled ''[[ToryBoy The Movie]]'' made by [[John Walsh (filmmaker)|John Walsh]], which explored the candidate's selection process and the work that goes into an election campaign.{{cn|date=February 2022}} Later in 2011, Neil Macfarlane, in a report for local newspaper ''[[Teesside Gazette]]'', asked "Are Teessiders getting enough from Sir Stuart Bell?" when he failed to answer over 100 telephone calls made to his constituency office over three months.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/local-news/teessiders-getting-enough-sir-stuart-3693031|title=Are Teessiders getting enough from Sir Stuart Bell?|author=gazettelive Administrator|date=6 September 2011|work=gazettelive|access-date=17 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170805145111/http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/local-news/teessiders-getting-enough-sir-stuart-3693031|archive-date=5 August 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The ''Gazette'' story was picked up by national newspapers. ''[[The Independent]]'' asked "is Sir Stuart Bell Britain's laziest MP?"<ref>Jonathan Brown [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/no-surgeries-for-14-years--is-sir-stuart-bell-britains-laziest-mp-2350953.html No surgeries for 14 years – is Sir Stuart Bell Britain's laziest MP?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925171623/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/no-surgeries-for-14-years--is-sir-stuart-bell-britains-laziest-mp-2350953.html |date=25 September 2015 }}, ''Independent'', 7 September 2011.</ref><ref name="BBC">Richard Moss [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-14847291 Middlesbrough MP Sir Stuart Bell fights laziest MP tag] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181028063739/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-14847291 |date=28 October 2018 }}, BBC, 9 September 2011.</ref> The ''Guardian'' fact-checked the "laziest MP" claim and found that: <blockquote>"Bell has been an MP for nearly 30 years and has had a distinguished career in parliament as a frontbench spokesman on trade and industry in opposition and the spokesman for the Church of England in the House of Commons and member of the House of Commons commission until last year. He's part of a breed of politicians&nbsp;– also including the Tory [[Edward Leigh]] and Labour's [[Gerald Kaufman]]&nbsp;– who have been extremely active parliamentarians but not always maintained an office in their constituency. One measure of their parliamentary work is the proportion of votes they turn up to... Bell's record doesn't cover him in glory, discounting frontbenchers, Northern Irish MPs, the Speaker and his deputies, he has the 10th worst attendance record with a 65.4% absence rate."<ref name="reality check">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/reality-check-with-polly-curtis/2011/sep/08/reality-check-britain-s-laziest-mp|title=Reality check: Who are Britain's laziest parliamentarians?|author=Polly Curtis|work=The Guardian|date=8 September 2011|access-date=17 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171118222430/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/reality-check-with-polly-curtis/2011/sep/08/reality-check-britain-s-laziest-mp|archive-date=18 November 2017|url-status=live}}</ref></blockquote> The Labour Party said it was looking into the allegations.<ref name="BBC"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/local-news/labour-launches-probe-middlesbrough-mp-3693109|title=Labour launches probe into Middlesbrough MP|author=gazettelive Administrator|date=8 September 2011|work=gazettelive|access-date=17 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171118224719/http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/local-news/labour-launches-probe-middlesbrough-mp-3693109|archive-date=18 November 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>