In June 2001, Bell was appointed Deputy Leader of the Alliance by Seán Neeson, following the resignation of Seamus Close over disagreements on the party's direction. However, Neeson himself soon resigned and Bell stood for the leadership as a traditionalist bridge-building candidate, against David Ford who was on the more consciously Liberal, internationalist wing of the party. At the Party's council Bell received 45 votes to Ford's 86 and she remained as the party's deputy leader. In the 2003 Assembly elections she retained her seat.
On 10 December 2005, it was announced that Bell would stand down as Deputy Leader of the party and not contest the next Assembly elections.[2]
Bell acted as the Speaker of the Assembly established by the Northern Ireland Act 2006 and of the Transitional Assembly established by the Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Act 2006. On 8 May 2006, she was appointed Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly (which had been suspended since 2002) only to be replaced that same day by William Hay.
Post Political career
After leaving political life Eileen Bell turned to a charity she had long supported and became vice president and Legislative Advisor to Autism NI. She has been one of the driving forces behind a Lobby for an Autism Bill in Northern Ireland. She was also the chairperson of Downtown Women's Group which managed the Women into Politics Project. She stayed on as a board member of the group until it wound down in 2015.