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Closing remarks manxbiomed 2013 hon allan bell mhk
Allan Robert Bell CBE MHK (born 20 June 1947) is a Manx politician who was the Chief Minister of the Isle of Man, having been elected to that position on 11 October 2011. He has been an Independent Member of the House of Keys for Ramsey since 1984, and has served in several different Ministerial roles. He is currently the longest serving Member of the House of Keys. He resigned as Chief Minister on 4 October 2016.
Contents
- Closing remarks manxbiomed 2013 hon allan bell mhk
- MTTV archive Chief Minister Allan Bell receives petition
- Early life and education
- Political career
- Chief Minister
- Governmental Positions
- Personal life
- Retirement
- References
MTTV archive: Chief Minister Allan Bell receives petition
Early life and education
Bell was educated at Ramsey Grammar School. He was involved in banking and clothing retail prior to entering politics.
Political career
Bell was first elected to the House of Keys as an Independent representing Ramsey in a 1984 by-election. He had first, unsuccessfully, contested Ramsey in 1976, as a candidate for Manx nationalist party Mec Vannin.
He has served in numerous ministerial roles including Minister for Tourism and Transport, from 1986–90, Minister of Tourism, Leisure and Transport, from 1990–94, Minister of Industry, from 1991–96, Minister of Home Affairs, from 1996–2001, Minister of the Treasury, from 2001–10 and Minister for Economic Development, from 2010–11.
He was formerly the Minister for Economic Development of the Isle of Man Government and is Member of the House of Keys for Ramsey.
He became the first head of the economic development ministry and a year later on 11 October 2011, he was named as Chief Minister after the retirement of Tony Brown.
Chief Minister
On 11 October 2011, Bell was elected Chief Minister of the Isle of Man, winning a clear majority over Liberal Vannin opponent Peter Karran. Bell was proposed by Eddie Teare and seconded by Laurence Skelly.
While Bell was Chief Minister in 2013, the government signed a deal involving £1.3 million bail-out loan and property purchase for the hotel chain Sefton Group which Bell stated was a " small but decisive part" in " support[ing] the economy". After a legal review found the deal to be "outside of government powers", Bell initially refused to accept the proffered resignation of the economic development minister, John Shimmin.
Bell was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for public service to the Isle of Man.
Governmental Positions
Personal life
In a 2015 interview with The Guardian, Bell stated that "People know that I’m gay. I’ve never made a secret of it, but no one has ever asked me."
Retirement
On 1 August 2016, Bell announced that he was retiring after 37 years within Manx politics.