Peter Bessell
Encyclopedia
Peter Joseph Bessell was a British
Liberal Party
politician, and Member of Parliament
(MP) for Bodmin
in Cornwall
from 1964 to 1970.
He was educated at Lynwyd School, Bath, Somerset, and was a Methodist lay preacher from 1939 to 1970. He first stood for parliament as a Liberal in Torquay
in both the 1955 general election
, and the by-election there later that year.
At the 1959 general election
, he was the Liberal candidate in the Bodmin constituency
, but lost to the sitting Conservative
MP Sir Douglas Marshall
. He stood again at the 1964 general election
, defeating Marshall with a majority of over 3,000. He held the seat at the 1966 general election
, despite a strong challenge from the Conservative John Gorst
.
Bessell did not contest the 1970 general election
, when the Liberal candidate Paul Tyler
lost Bodmin to the Conservative Robert Hicks
. Meanwhile, in 1970, Bessell fled to the United States in an attempt to escape from the debts incurred by numerous unsuccessful companies, which had necessitated his standing down from parliament. For most of the 1970s, Bessell was under threat of prosecution for fraud allegations relating to several of these companies, although the 1979 Thorpe trial meant that he acquired immunity from prosecution. In an effort to pay off his crippling business debts, he lived modestly for his last 15 years, in a small one-room beach hut in California.
In the 1960s Peter Bessell was a member of Mebyon Kernow
as well as the Liberal Party.
He was a prosecution witness at the trial of Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe
for the attempted murder of Norman Scott in 1979, the Rinkagate case, when he returned to Britain to testify in exchange for immunity from prosecution. His evidence according to the judge, Mr. Justice Cantley, was "a tissue of lies"; a key meeting concerning the conspiracy to murder occurred in varied locations in his statements. Bessell admitted to "a credibility problem" and was known as a fantasist. In particular, Bessell's evidence was considered unrelable because he had signed a contract with The Sunday Telegraph for the serialisation rights of his memoirs where the full fee would double if Thorpe was convicted. Before the trial he had been paid a third of the £50,000 full fee, and stood to gain only another £8,000 on Thorpe's acquittal. After the trial, Bessell published a privately-printed memoir, Cover-Up (1981), setting out his version of the Thorpe scandal, listing his own numerous extra-marital affairs, and portraying his business career as a successful one.
A lifelong chain smoker, he died in 1985 of emphysema
. He married three times: Joyce Margaret Thomas (1943-9), who died prematurely; and Pauline Colledge, whom he divorced in 1978 to marry Diane Miller, his long-term mistress.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Liberal Party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
politician, and Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Bodmin
Bodmin (UK Parliament constituency)
Bodmin was the name of a parliamentary constituency in Cornwall from 1295 until 1983. Initially, it was a parliamentary borough, which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of England and later the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until the 1868 general...
in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
from 1964 to 1970.
He was educated at Lynwyd School, Bath, Somerset, and was a Methodist lay preacher from 1939 to 1970. He first stood for parliament as a Liberal in Torquay
Torquay (UK Parliament constituency)
Torquay was a county constituency in Devon, South West England, which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
in both the 1955 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1955
The 1955 United Kingdom general election was held on 26 May 1955, four years after the previous general election. It resulted in a substantially increased majority of 60 for the Conservative government under new leader and prime minister Sir Anthony Eden against Labour Party, now in their 20th year...
, and the by-election there later that year.
At the 1959 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1959
This United Kingdom general election was held on 8 October 1959. It marked a third successive victory for the ruling Conservative Party, led by Harold Macmillan...
, he was the Liberal candidate in the Bodmin constituency
Bodmin (UK Parliament constituency)
Bodmin was the name of a parliamentary constituency in Cornwall from 1295 until 1983. Initially, it was a parliamentary borough, which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of England and later the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until the 1868 general...
, but lost to the sitting Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MP Sir Douglas Marshall
Douglas Marshall
Sir Douglas Marshall was a British Conservative Party politician, and Member of Parliament for Bodmin from 1945 to 1964.At the 1964 general election, he lost his seat to the Liberal Party candidate Peter Bessell....
. He stood again at the 1964 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1964
The United Kingdom general election of 1964 was held on 15 October 1964, more than five years after the preceding election, and thirteen years after the Conservative Party had retaken power...
, defeating Marshall with a majority of over 3,000. He held the seat at the 1966 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1966
The 1966 United Kingdom general election on 31 March 1966 was called by sitting Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Wilson's decision to call an election turned on the fact that his government, elected a mere 17 months previously in 1964 had an unworkably small majority of only 4 MPs...
, despite a strong challenge from the Conservative John Gorst
John Michael Gorst
Sir John Michael Gorst was a British Conservative Party politician.He was educated at Ardingly College and read French and History at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. In 1953 he joined the advertising department of Pye Ltd...
.
Bessell did not contest the 1970 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1970
The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on 18 June 1970, and resulted in a surprise victory for the Conservative Party under leader Edward Heath, who defeated the Labour Party under Harold Wilson. The election also saw the Liberal Party and its new leader Jeremy Thorpe lose half their...
, when the Liberal candidate Paul Tyler
Paul Tyler, Baron Tyler
Paul Archer Tyler, Baron Tyler, CBE, DL is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom. He was a Member of Parliament from February to October 1974 and from 1992 to 2005, and now sits in the House of Lords as a life peer....
lost Bodmin to the Conservative Robert Hicks
Robert Hicks (British politician)
Robert Adrian Hicks , was a British conservative Party politician.Hicks contested Aberavon in 1966. He was Member of Parliament for Bodmin from 1970 to February 1974 and from October 1974 to 1983...
. Meanwhile, in 1970, Bessell fled to the United States in an attempt to escape from the debts incurred by numerous unsuccessful companies, which had necessitated his standing down from parliament. For most of the 1970s, Bessell was under threat of prosecution for fraud allegations relating to several of these companies, although the 1979 Thorpe trial meant that he acquired immunity from prosecution. In an effort to pay off his crippling business debts, he lived modestly for his last 15 years, in a small one-room beach hut in California.
In the 1960s Peter Bessell was a member of Mebyon Kernow
Mebyon Kernow
Mebyon Kernow is a left-of-centre political party in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It primarily campaigns for devolution to Cornwall in the form of a Cornish Assembly, as well as social democracy and environmental protection.MK was formed as a pressure group in 1951, and contained as members activists...
as well as the Liberal Party.
He was a prosecution witness at the trial of Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe
Jeremy Thorpe
John Jeremy Thorpe is a British former politician who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1967 to 1976 and was the Member of Parliament for North Devon from 1959 to 1979. His political career was damaged when an acquaintance, Norman Scott, claimed to have had a love affair with Thorpe at a time...
for the attempted murder of Norman Scott in 1979, the Rinkagate case, when he returned to Britain to testify in exchange for immunity from prosecution. His evidence according to the judge, Mr. Justice Cantley, was "a tissue of lies"; a key meeting concerning the conspiracy to murder occurred in varied locations in his statements. Bessell admitted to "a credibility problem" and was known as a fantasist. In particular, Bessell's evidence was considered unrelable because he had signed a contract with The Sunday Telegraph for the serialisation rights of his memoirs where the full fee would double if Thorpe was convicted. Before the trial he had been paid a third of the £50,000 full fee, and stood to gain only another £8,000 on Thorpe's acquittal. After the trial, Bessell published a privately-printed memoir, Cover-Up (1981), setting out his version of the Thorpe scandal, listing his own numerous extra-marital affairs, and portraying his business career as a successful one.
A lifelong chain smoker, he died in 1985 of emphysema
Emphysema
Emphysema is a long-term, progressive disease of the lungs that primarily causes shortness of breath. In people with emphysema, the tissues necessary to support the physical shape and function of the lungs are destroyed. It is included in a group of diseases called chronic obstructive pulmonary...
. He married three times: Joyce Margaret Thomas (1943-9), who died prematurely; and Pauline Colledge, whom he divorced in 1978 to marry Diane Miller, his long-term mistress.