William 'Bill' Shimmins is a Scottish-born Manx politician. He represented 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

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 ...

until 2021, having been first elected in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Early life

Shimmins was born in Scotland in 1965 and educated at Hermitage Academy in

Helensburgh Helensburgh ( ; ) is a town on the north side of the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, situated at the mouth of the Gareloch. Historically in Dunbartonshire, it became part of Argyll and Bute following local government reorganisation in 1996. Histo ...

, Clydebank Technical College and the Glasgow College of Commerce.

Career

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Shimmins worked as a banker in the UK. He spent time with both Clydesdale and Yorkshire bank before becoming Managing Director of

Northern Bank Northern Bank Limited, trading as Danske Bank, is a retail bank in Northern Ireland. Northern Banking Company Limited was formed from a private bank, with the Deed of Partnership being signed on 1 August 1824. It is one of the oldest banks in ...

(Isle of Man) Limited in 2002. In April 2006, Shimmins joined the

NatWest National Westminster Bank, trading as NatWest, is a major Retail banking, retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the Corporate merger, merger of National Provincial Bank and We ...

group and from 2011 to 2016 served as Managing Director of Isle of Man Bank Limited and Island Director of

RBS International The Royal Bank of Scotland International Limited, trading under the NatWest International (retail), RBS International (institutional), Coutts Crown Dependencies (wealth management) and Isle of Man Bank brands, is the offshore banking arm of N ...

Politics

In 2016, Shimmins was elected to the

for the constituency of

along with incumbent Minister

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 be ...

. He received 33.5% of the vote. In his 2016 manifesto, Shimmins stated that his priorities were economic growth, reducing the public pension deficit, reducing the size and scope of government and maintaining quality of life for residents. He has also supported the development of brownfield sites, development of active travel routes and the introduction of a 5p plastic bag charge. Shimmins indicated that he does not support independence for the Isle of Man and does not believe that the Chief Minister should be popularly elected. Since his election Shimmins has served as a political Member for the

Isle of Man Treasury The Treasury () of the Isle of Man is the finance department of the Isle of Man Government. It prepares the annual budget for the Government, and also handles taxation, customs and excise, economic affairs, information systems, internal audit, ...

with responsibility for the General Registry, Investment Management, Asset Management and the Audit (Consultative) Committee. Known as an astute speaker in Tynwald, Mr Shimmins has served as Chairman of the Select Committee on Free Train and Tram Travel (Petition for Redress) 2016–2017, Member of the Select Committee of Tynwald on Financing of Infrastructure Schemes and Projects 2018–July 2018, Chairman of the Select Committee of Tynwald on Development of Unoccupied Urban Sites April 2018–November 2018, Member of the House of Keys Committee on the Education Bill 2020 2020–2021.

Election results

2016

Personal life

Shimmins lives in Glen Vine and is married to Alison, a primary school teacher. They have two adult children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shimmins, Bill Living people Members of the House of Keys 2016–2021 1965 births People educated at Hermitage Academy Scottish bankers Scottish politicians 20th-century Scottish businesspeople 21st-century Scottish businesspeople Independent politicians in the Isle of Man