Francis Campbell Bell was a politician in Manitoba, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba

Legislative Assembly of Manitoba

The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba and the lieutenant governor form the Legislature of Manitoba, the legislature of the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly in provincial general elections, all in single-member constituencies with first-past-the-post...

 from 1936 to 1958 as a Liberal-Progressive

Manitoba Liberal Party

The Manitoba Liberal Party is a political party in Manitoba, Canada. Its roots can be traced to the late nineteenth-century, following the province's creation in 1870.-Origins and early development :...

 Member of the Legislative Assembly

Member of the Legislative Assembly

A Member of the Legislative Assembly or a Member of the Legislature , is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to the legislature or legislative assembly of a sub-national jurisdiction....

, and was a cabinet minister in the government of Douglas Campbell

Douglas Lloyd Campbell

Douglas Lloyd Campbell, OC was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as the 13th Premier of Manitoba from 1948 to 1958...

.

Bell was educated in Clearwater, and served as a municipal secretary-treasurer. He served in the Canadian military for three years.

He was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1936 provincial election

Manitoba general election, 1936

Manitoba's general election of July 27, 1936 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.The was the second election in Manitoba after the formation of a Liberal-Progressive alliance in 1932...

, defeating Conservative

Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba

The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba is the only right wing political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is also the official opposition party in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.-Origins and early years:...

 candidate W.C. Wroth by only twenty-seven votes in the rural constituency of Birtle. He defeated Wroth by a greater margin in the 1941 election

Manitoba general election, 1941

Manitoba's general election of April 22, 1941 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.This election was held shortly after the formation of a coalition government in December 1940...

, and was returned without difficulty in the elections of 1945

Manitoba general election, 1945

Manitoba's general election of October 15, 1945 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.The 1945 provincial election was extremely different from the previous election, which was held in 1941...

 and 1953

Manitoba general election, 1953

Manitoba's general election of June 8, 1953 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. This was the first election held in Manitoba after the breakup of a ten-year coalition government led by the Liberal-Progressives and Progressive Conservatives...

. In the 1949 election

Manitoba general election, 1949

Manitoba's general election of November 10, 1949 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.This election pitted the province's coalition government, made up of the Liberal-Progressive Party and the Progressive Conservative Party, against a variety of...

, Bell was elected without opposition.

After serving as a backbencher for over twelve years, Bell was appointed to cabinet on December 14, 1948 as Douglas Campbell's Minister of Agriculture. He served in this capacity until November 7, 1952, when he was named Minister of Health and Public Welfare. Further cabinet shuffles saw him named as Minister of Public Works (January 25, 1955) and Minister of Mines and Natural Resources (July 6, 1956). Manitoba Co-operative Commonwealth Federation

Manitoba Co-operative Commonwealth Federation

The Cooperative Commonwealth Federation , known informally as the Manitoba CCF, was a provincial branch of the national Canadian party by the same name. The national CCF was the dominant social-democratic party in Canada from the 1930s to the early 1960s, when it merged with the labour movement...

 leader Lloyd Stinson

Lloyd Stinson

Lloyd Stinson was a politician in Manitoba, Canada, and the leader of that province's Co-operative Commonwealth Federation from 1953 to 1959. Although widely regarded as a capable leader, he was unable to achieve a major electoral breakthrough for his party.Stinson was born in Treherne,...

 once described him as "competent but unspectacular".

The Liberal-Progressives were defeated in the 1958 election

Manitoba general election, 1958

Manitoba's general election of June 16, 1958 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.This election was the first to be held in Manitoba after a comprehensive electoral redistribution in 1956...

, and Bell lost to Progressive Conservative

Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba

The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba is the only right wing political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is also the official opposition party in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.-Origins and early years:...

 candidate John Thompson

John Thompson (Manitoba politician)

John William McLeod Thompson , BA, LLB, was a lawyer, politician and judge in Manitoba, Canada...

 by 1,273 votes in the redistributed constituency of Virden. He formally resigned from cabinet on June 30, 1958.