John Philip Shimmin (born 1 July 1960) is a former

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 La ...

for Douglas West.

Early life

Shimmin was born in

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

in 1960 and educated at St Ninian's High School and the Worcester College of Higher Education. He was then a teacher (Physical Education, Mathematics, General Studies) from 1982 in several areas of the UK - Crewe, Tamworth, Knowsley before returning to teach in Douglas (St Ninian's High School) where he was also Head of Year from 1989 to 1996 until entering politics.

Political career

Shimmin was elected as MHK for Douglas West in 1996 at his first attempt. He became Chairman of the

Isle of Man Post Office The Isle of Man Post Office (), which formerly used the trading name Isle of Man Post, operates postal collection, ancillary mail services, philatelic goods and delivery services and post office counter services on the Isle of Man. History Th ...

in 1999 before becoming Minister of Transport in 2002. In 2005, he swapped departments with the

Minister of Home Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

Phil Braidwood Robert Philip Braidwood (born 11 July 1949) is a Manx politician, who was formerly a Member of the Legislative Council; he was previously an MHK for Douglas East after winning the Douglas East by-election in 1995 and he continued to top the ...

. In November 2006, he was re-elected into Tynwald, alongside

Geoff Corkish Charles Geoffrey "Geoff" Corkish Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE Member of the Legislative Council, MLC (born 25 May 1953) is a Isle of Man, Manx politician, who is currently a Member of the House of Keys for Doug ...

in West Douglas. He was appointed Local Government and the Environment Minister by newly elected Chief Minister Tony Brown in November 2006. After the restructuring of Tynwald in 2010, he became Minister of Environment, Food and Agriculture before being promoted to Minister of Economic Development after the 2011 General Election. He remained Minister of Economic Development of the

Isle of Man Government The Isle of Man Government () is the government of the Isle of Man. The formal head of the Isle of Man Government is the Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man, Lieutenant Governor, the personal representative of the Lord of Mann (currently Char ...

until, following questions in regards to the Isle of Man Government's handling of the loans to the Manx-based Sefton Group, he resigned his ministerial post . On 16 February 2015 he was appointed Minister for Policy and Reform, replacing Chris Robertshaw who had held the post for less than a year before resigning. Following 20 years of service, Shimmin chose not to contest his seat at the 2016 General Election and subsequently stood down from politics (along with fellow long-standing members

Allan Bell Allan Robert Bell (born 20 June 1947) is a Manx politician who was the Chief Minister of the Isle of Man from 2011 until 2016, having been elected to that position on 11 October 2011. He was an Independent Member of the House of Keys for Ra ...

and Eddie Teare).

Governmental positions

* Minister of Policy and Reform, 2015 - 2016 * Minister of Economic Development, 2011–2014 * Minister of Environment, Food and Agriculture, 2010 - 2011 * Minister of Local Government and the Environment, 2006–2010 *

, 2005–2006 * Minister of Transport, 2002–2005 *Chairman of the

, 1999–2002

Personal life

Shimmin has been married to wife Maureen (née O'Hara) since 1986; they have two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shimmin, John Independent politicians in the Isle of Man Members of the House of Keys 1996–2001 Members of the House of Keys 2001–2006 Members of the House of Keys 2006–2011 Members of the House of Keys 2011–2016 Living people 1960 births Alumni of the University of Worcester People educated at St Ninian's High School, Douglas