Alfred Louis Cannan
MHK is an independent
Member of the House of Keys
The House of Keys () is the directly elected lower house of Tynwald, the parliament of the Isle of Man, the other branch being the Legislative Council.
History
The oldest known reference to the name is in a document of 1417, written in ...
for
Ayre & Michael Ayre & Michael is a House of Keys constituency in the north of the Isle of Man. It was created for the 2016 general election and elects 2 MHK
It is easily the largest Keys constituency in area, and includes the parishes of Michael (parish), Micha ...
and is the current
Chief Minister of the Isle of Man
The Chief Minister (Manx: ''Ard-shirveishagh'') is the executive head of the Isle of Man Government.
The office derives from that of Chairman of the Executive Council. Before 1980 the Executive Council was chaired by the Lieutenant Governor, ...
. He was previously the
Minister for the Treasury.
Cannan sought the position of Chief Minister in 2011, but was unsuccessful. His nomination was the first ever in which only
MHKs had a vote: previously the members of the
Legislative Council also took part in the election. Cannan replaced
Howard Quayle
Robert Howard Quayle is the former chief minister for the Isle of Man, between 4 October 2016. and 12 October 2021. He previously served as the minister for Health and Social Care, until the elections in September 2016.
Early career
Quayle ...
, who was stepping down from his position and declined to run in the 2021 House of Keys election. On 12 October 2021, Cannan defeated Ramsey MHK
Alex Allinson
Alexander John Allinson (born 1966) is an English-born Manx physician and politician who serves as an independent member of the House of Keys, representing Ramsey since 2016. Allinson serves on the Council of Ministers as the current Minist ...
to become the Isle of Man's Chief Minister.
Political career
In 2011, Cannan was elected as MHK for the constituency of
Michael
Michael may refer to:
People
* Michael (given name), a given name
* Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael
Given name "Michael"
* Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...
, which was abolished in 2016.
Cannan's first government appointment was as chairman of the Civil Service Commission, serving from 2011 to 2014. In 2014 he was appointed chairman of the newly formed Manx Utilities Authority.
From 2015 to 2016 he was also a political member of the
Department of Economic Development.
In 2016 he was elected as an MHK for the new constituency of
Ayre & Michael Ayre & Michael is a House of Keys constituency in the north of the Isle of Man. It was created for the 2016 general election and elects 2 MHK
It is easily the largest Keys constituency in area, and includes the parishes of Michael (parish), Micha ...
, winning the highest number of votes in the two-member constituency.
Cannan was narrowly defeated by Howard Quayle in the election of the Chief Minister, and was appointed Treasury Minister in October 2016. His term of office as Treasury Minister was marked by some significant decisions. In October 2017 Cannan wrote off £95m of debts owed by the Manx Utilities Authority; in February 2018 pension freedoms were controversially introduced; and in May 2018 the
Isle of Man Government
The Isle of Man Government ( gv, Reiltys Ellan Vannin) is the government of the Isle of Man. The formal head of the Isle of Man Government is the Lieutenant Governor, the personal representative of Charles III. The executive head is the Chie ...
purchased the
Isle of Man Steam Packet Company
An isle is an island, land surrounded by water. The term is very common in British English. However, there is no clear agreement on what makes an island an isle or its difference, so they are considered synonyms.
Isle may refer to:
Geography
* Is ...
for £124.3m.
Cannan has been a strong advocate for reform of the
National Health Service
The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
on the Isle of Man and was instrumental in initiating the review by Sir Jonathan Michael which has led to a proposed separation of policy and operations and the formation of a new delivery organisation named Manx Care.
He maintained that the focus of his budgets must be on "working families" and the challenge of dealing with a decade of low wage growth. His budgets saw significant rises in personal tax allowances alongside targeted above inflation welfare increases for low paid workers as well as child benefit.
On 12 October 2021 he was elected as Chief Minister of the Isle of Man by the House of Keys.
Electoral history
2011
2016
In 2014,
Tynwald
Tynwald ( gv, Tinvaal), or more formally, the High Court of Tynwald ( gv, Ard-whaiyl Tinvaal) or Tynwald Court, is the legislature of the Isle of Man. It consists of two chambers, known as the branches of Tynwald: the directly elected House ...
approved recommendations from the Boundary Review Commission which saw the reform of the Island's electoral boundaries.
Under the new system, the Island was divided into 12 constituencies based on population, with each area represented by two members of the
House of Keys.
As a result the constituencies of Ayre and Michael were merged.
2021
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General election 2021: Ayre & Michael
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, -
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Personal life
Cannan was born in 1968 and educated at
King William's College
King William's College (nicknamed KWC or King Bill's; gv, Colleish Ree Illiam) is an independent school for pupils aged 3 to 18, located near Castletown on the Isle of Man. It is a member of the International Baccalaureate and Headmasters' and ...
, Isle of Man, and
Sandhurst. He then served as an army officer for four years, before going into business.
He has three children with his wife Bella.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cannan, Alfred
Living people
Members of the House of Keys 2011–2016
Members of the House of Keys 2016–2021
1968 births
Chief Ministers of the Isle of Man