Jane Pearl Poole-Wilson, MHK (née Kissack) is a Manx politician and solicitor. She was elected to the

Legislative Council of the Isle of Man The Legislative Council () is the upper house, upper chamber of Tynwald, the legislature of the Isle of Man. The abbreviation "LegCo" is often used. It consists of eleven members (MLCs): * Eight members elected by the House of Keys * Three '' ...

(the upper branch of

Tynwald Tynwald (), or more formally, the High Court of Tynwald () 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 of Keys and the indirectly chosen Leg ...

) in 2017 to fill a casual vacancy and was re-elected for a full five-year term in 2018. However she was elected to 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 Lat ...

for the constituency of

Middle Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ...

in the 2021 Manx general election (she easily topped the poll with almost twice as many votes as the other elected MHK) and thus forfeited her seat on the Legislative Council. She was immediately appointed by new Chief Minister

Alfred Cannan Alfred Louis Cannan (born 20 January 1968), Member of the House of Keys (MHK), is a Manx politician and independent Member of the House of Keys for Ayre & Michael. He has served as the Chief Minister of the Isle of Man since 12 October 2021 ...

as Minister for Justice and Home Affairs. She was also appointed as Deputy Chief Minister.

Early life and family

Poole-Wilson attended

Ballakermeen High School Ballakermeen High School is a coeducational comprehensive secondary school based on a single site in Douglas, on the Isle of Man. It is the second largest Isle of Man Government building after Noble's Hospital in Strang. On the start of the 2 ...

before studying Modern History at

St Catherine's College, Oxford St Catherine's College (colloquially called St Catz or Catz) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. In 1974, it was also one of the first men's colleges to admit women. It has 528 un ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree. She then spent two years at Chester College of Law and secured a training contract at

Eversheds Eversheds Sutherland is a global multinational law practice created by a combination of law firms Eversheds LLP and Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP, rebranded to the abbreviated name of Sutherland, was an Am ...

, leading to her qualifying as a

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

. As of 2017, she is married with two children."Mrs Jane Poole-Wilson MLC"
, ''Tynwald''. Retrieved 22 November 2017.

Career

As a solicitor, Poole-Wilson specialises in employment law. She worked for Eversheds and was seconded to the UK Financial Services Authority, before joining

Simmons and Simmons Simmons & Simmons is an international law firm with headquarters in London, UK. About half of its staff are in the London office, in CityPoint, off Moorgate. It has offices in Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Asia. The firm serves ...

. She became the principal in-house lawyer at

UBS Investment Bank UBS Group AG (stylized simply as UBS) is a multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland, with headquarters in both Zurich and Basel. It holds a strong foothold in all major fina ...

advising on human resources matters for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. She moved to the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

in 2005 and began working for a consultancy firm providing support for multinational corporations. She was Isle of Man Legal Aid Deputy Certifying Officer from 2007 to 2012.

Politics

Poole-Wilson stood for election to the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

as an Independent in May 2017, following the resignation of Tony Wild; she was nominated by Daphne Caine and seconded by Bill Shimmins."Poole-Wilson elected to Legislative Council"
''Isle of Man Online'', 18 May 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2017. She was elected, receiving 14 votes; her closest rival, Alan Wright, gained six. Since election, she has been Chairman of the Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs and Justice, a member of the Select Committee of Tynwald on Library Provision and an Equality Champion. Her term expired in February 2018,"Solicitor Jane Poole-Wilson elected to Legislative Council"
''BBC News'', 18 May 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2017. but in March 2018 she was re-elected to the Legislative Council almost unanimously, coming top of the poll with 22 votes out of a possible 24.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poole-Wilson, Jane Living people Members of the Legislative Council of the Isle of Man Members of the House of Keys 2021–2026 Manx women in politics Alumni of St Catherine's College, Oxford Manx lawyers British women lawyers 21st-century British women politicians Independent politicians in the Isle of Man Year of birth missing (living people)