Alfred Cannan

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Alfred Cannan (Alfie)
Cannan in 2023
Chief Minister of the Isle of Man
Assumed office
12 October 2021
MonarchsElizabeth II
Charles III
Preceded byHoward Quayle
Minister for the Treasury
In office
4 October 2016 – 12 October 2021
MonarchElizabeth II
GovernorRichard Gozney
Preceded byEddie Teare
Succeeded byDavid Ashford
Member of the House of Keys
for Ayre and Michael
Assumed office
22 September 2016
Preceded byConstituency established
Member of the House of Keys
for Michael
In office
29 September 2011 – 21 September 2016
Succeeded byConstituency Abolished
Personal details
Born
Alfred Louis Cannan

(1968-01-20) 20 January 1968 (age 56)
NationalityManx
Political partyIndependent
EducationKing William's College
Alma materRoyal Military Academy Sandhurst

Alfred Louis Cannan (20 January 1968)[1] MHK is an independent Member of the House of Keys for Ayre & Michael and is the current Chief Minister of the Isle of Man. 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, who was stepping down from his position and declined to run in the 2021 House of Keys election.[2] On 12 October 2021, Cannan defeated Ramsey MHK Alex Allinson to become the Isle of Man's Chief Minister.[3]

Political career

In 2011, Cannan was elected as MHK for the constituency of Michael, 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.[4]

In 2016 he was elected as an MHK for the new constituency of Ayre & Michael, 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 purchased the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company for £124.3m.

Cannan has been a strong advocate for reform of the National Health Service 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.

In March 2020 Cannan delivered the economic package[5] that was to sustain the Isle of Man through the COVID pandemic which included a salary support scheme and the Manx Earnings Replacement Allowance (MERA). He established a cross government Economic Recovery Group which, amongst a number of initiatives, oversaw the formation of the Manx Development Corporation and launched a major review of the Isle of Man Economic Strategy.

On 12 October 2021 he was elected as Chief Minister of the Isle of Man by the House of Keys. In December 2021 he announced a major shift in the management of Coronavirus[6] and then in March 2022 the Government announced it would support the humanitarian effort in Ukraine by accepting refugees.

Electoral history

2011

2011 Manx General Election: Michael[7]
Party Candidate Votes %
Independent Alfred Cannan 1014 64.06%
Independent Juan Heavey 244 15.41%
Independent David Talbot 325 20.53%
Total valid votes 1583
Rejected ballots 7 0.44%
Registered electors 2,540
Turnout 3,268 62.32%

2016

In 2014, Tynwald 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.

2016 Manx General Election: Ayre & Michael[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Independent Alfred Cannan 1839 31.35%
Independent Tim Baker 1572 26.8%
Independent Carlos Phillips 1358 23.15%
Independent Louise Whitelegg 638 10.88%
Independent Alan Kermode 440 7.5%
Liberal Vannin Party Pat Ayres 39 0.66%
Total valid votes 5886
Rejected ballots 7 0.22%
Registered electors 4,884
Turnout 3,192 65.36%

2021

General election 2021: Ayre & Michael[9]
Party Candidate Votes
Count Of total (%)
Independent Alfred "Alf" Cannan 2,117 36.4
Independent Tim Johnston 1,203 20.7
Independent Tim Baker 709 12.2
Liberal Vannin Paul Weatherall 540 9.3
Independent Duncan Livingstone 517 8.9
Independent Phil Corkill 378 6.5
Independent Dr Sos Boussougou 189 3.2
Independent Madeleine Westall 168 2.9
Total votes 5,821
Total ballots
Rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered electors 5,127

Personal life

Cannan was born in Reading, Berkshire, England, in 1968 and educated at King William's College, Isle of Man and Sandhurst before undertaking a short service commission with the Royal Regiment of Wales.

References

  1. ^ "Alfred Louis CANNAN MHK (Michael)". tynwald. Archived from the original on 16 December 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  2. ^ "Isle of Man: Alfred Cannan elected new chief minister". BBC News. 12 October 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  3. ^ "Isle of Man: Two MHKs nominated to become the next chief minister". BBC News. 5 October 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  4. ^ "Alfred Louis CANNAN MHK - Constituency: Ayre and Michael". tynwald.org.im. Archived from the original on 16 December 2012.
  5. ^ Treasury Minister Coronavirus Press Conference - Monday 23rd March 2020, retrieved 18 April 2023
  6. ^ "Covid: Isle of Man adopts self-test approach to manage Omicron wave". BBC News. 21 December 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  7. ^ "House of Keys 2011 General Election Results" (PDF). gov.im.
  8. ^ "2016 General Election - Constituency Results" (PDF). gov.im.
  9. ^ "Ayre and Michael (2021)". Manx Radio.