New Brunswick lawyer Richard Bell has been appointed to sit as a judge in the Court of Queen's Bench in Moncton, in Prime Minister Stephen Harper's first round of judicial appointments.

Bell, a lawyer in Fredericton, is a former New Brunswick co-chair of Harper's political campaigns. 

The federal Tories announced the appointment in Ottawa on Tuesday.

Bell has been a lawyer for 26 years and is bilingual. He also has an interesting political history.

A former federal Liberal, in 1997 he lost a controversial nomination race in the riding of Tobique-Mactaquac.

He switched to the Canadian Alliance, which later merged to become the Conservative Party of Canada.

Bell co-chaired Harper's campaign for the leadership of the new party in 2004.

He also co-chaired the party's election campaigns in New Brunswick in 2004 and 2006.