Hamilton blames Bell's "poison" for defeat

A SEVENTH Conservative Cabinet minister yesterday joined six of his colleagues in defeat, giving the Tories their worst general election result on record.

Mr Roger Freeman, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and a former public services minister, lost his Kettering seat to Labour by just 189 votes, on a swing against him of 11 per cent.

Mr Freeman joined the Scottish Secretary, Mr Michael Forsyth, the Defence Secretary, Mr Michael Portillo, the President of the Board of Trade, Mr Ian Lang, the Foreign Secretary, Mr Malcolm Rifkind, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Mr William Waldegrave, and the Leader of the House of Commons, Mr Tony Newton, as Cabinet Ministers who are now out of the Commons altogether.

Elsewhere among the debris of the Tory defeat, Mr Neil Hamilton, who lost his seat to the former BBC war correspondent Mr Martin Bell, sought to blame everyone but himself for his loss and insisted that he was in no way responsible for the wider Conservative collapse.

Mr Hamilton, who has been at the centre of the cash for questions affair - and who has vigorously denied all allegations of corruption - accused Mr Bell of having conducted a dishonest and corrupt campaign against him.

The former MP, accompanied by his wife Christine, said outside his Cheshire home: "It is perfectly clear from the swing that occurred across the country that I do not bear any specific responsibility. Brian Mawhinney was right that the results reflected the frustration of five years rather than five weeks.

"Martin Bell conducted a campaign of character assassination against me and his campaign was flagrantly dishonest, not to mention corrupt, and that evidently worked."

Mr Hamilton insisted that Mr Bell had made false allegations against him which led to his defeat. "If Mr Bell had not made false allegations against me on a regular basis and his very extensive campaign staff had not been sent out to drip this poison among my constituents, then I think I would have been successful yesterday. I blame him for my defeat."

Mr Bell said he found Mr Hamilton's comments very sad and went on: "As far as I am concerned I have conducted the campaign honourably and the people of Tatton have given their verdict.

"I now wish to get on with the business of serving them without any further distraction."

Mr Hamilton, speaking as Mr Bell went on a victory walkabout in Knutsford, Cheshire, said the new MP would fade into the background in the House of Commons. "He will be ignored and fade into the background. He will find it very difficult to be heard," he said.

Mr Hamilton, who was on his way to the count for seats on Macclesfield County Council, said it was too early to say what the future held for him.

"There is always a way back, but it is too early to look too far ahead," he said.

Mrs Hamilton put her arm around her husband as he faced reporters, and said the couple both remained positive about the future. "We are young, healthy and have each other. That's all we need," she said.

She added that she would go ahead with her plan to appear on the BBC's Have I Got News For You? next week. Later, interviewed by BBC radio, Mr Hamilton insisted: "I've done nothing dishonest, corrupt, improper, call it what you like. That's what I've said consistently."

He would now await the publication of the Downey report into the cash for questions affair, "which I expect to exonerate me of these allegations and in the meantime, I will have to find an alternative focus for my attentions as I am no longer a Member of Parliament".

Meanwhile, as John Major enjoyed watching an afternoon of cricket at the Oval in south London with his family after leaving Downing Street and announcing his intention of resigning as Tory party leader, a leading London publisher said he could expect to earn more than £500,000 for his political memoirs.

Mr Ion Trewin, managing director of Weidenfeld & Nicolson, believes the former prime minister could be offered an advance of more than £250,000 if he chooses to tell all. That figure would probably be matched through the sale of serialisation rights.

But Mr Trewin, whose company has published memoirs of Lords Tebbit, Parkinson and the colourful diaries of former minister Alan Clark, said: "A lot of it depends on the quality of the writing. Denis Healey's Time Of My Life was a very big seller. It was wonderfully written and fun to read. Alan Clark also achieved huge sales.

"But there have also been those that have not been such a success, like Nigel Lawson.

Once Mr Major appointed a literary agent publishing houses would probably engage in an auction, Mr Trewin said.

"It would be quite a scramble. It could be quite lucrative, although a lot people have had their fingers burnt with political memoirs.

"I know absolutely nothing about John Major's writing and haven't actually read anything by him so I don't know whether he is a great stylist."

But he added: "My guess is that he will indeed write his memoirs. It's an intriguing life from such humble beginnings, but it might be a few years away and may well be all the better for that."

Baroness Thatcher sold a record number of books when The Downing Street Years was published in 1993, selling 350,000 hardback copies. However her follow up, The Path To Power, failed to follow suit even with copies at discount prices.

Not all PMs actually reveal the machinations of their Downing Street years.

Sir Edward Heath has yet to write his book and returned a £50,000 advance from Weidenfeld in the early 90s.