Alexander John Allinson (born 1966) is an English-born
Manx physician and politician who serves as an
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
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 ...
, representing
Ramsey
Ramsey may refer to:
Geography British Isles
* Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, a small market town in England
* Ramsey, Essex, a village near Harwich, England
** Ramsey and Parkeston, a civil parish formerly called just "Ramsey"
* Ramsey, Isle of Man, t ...
since 2016. Allinson serves on the
Council of Ministers
A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...
as the current
Minister for the Treasury, having been appointed to the role in May 2022 by
Alfred Cannan
Alfred Louis Cannan 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 2 ...
, the
chief minister
A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...
of the
Isle of Man
)
, anthem = "O Land of Our Birth"
, image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg
, image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg
, mapsize =
, map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe
, map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green)
in Europe ...
.
Early life, education, and medical career
Allinson was born in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
in 1966. He attended from the
Latymer Upper School
(Slowly Therefore Surely)
, established =
, closed =
, sister_school = Godolphin and Latymer School
, type = Public schoolIndependent day school
, head_label = H ...
, and studied medicine at
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...
, graduating with a masters degree in 1991. After graduating from medical school, Allinson worked at
Royal Children's Hospital
The Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) is a major children's hospital in Melbourne, Australia.
As a major specialist paediatric hospital in Victoria, the Royal Children's Hospital provides a full range of clinical services, tertiary care, as well ...
in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
for a year before returning to
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, becoming a pediatrician in
Hackney. After qualifying as a General Practitioner he later moved back to Australia, and spent over two years in
Geraldton
Geraldton (Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of the Australian state of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth.
At June 2018, Geraldton had an urban population of 37,648. ...
, where he worked with the
Aboriginal Medical Service
Aboriginal Medical Services Redfern, known as AMS Redfern, formerly the Aboriginal Medical Service (AMS) is an Aboriginal Australian health service in the Sydney suburb of Redfern. Established around 1971, it was the first Aboriginal community- ...
. He returned back to England, becoming a ''
locum tenens physician'' in London. In 2002, Allinson became a general practitioner in the town of
Ramsey
Ramsey may refer to:
Geography British Isles
* Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, a small market town in England
* Ramsey, Essex, a village near Harwich, England
** Ramsey and Parkeston, a civil parish formerly called just "Ramsey"
* Ramsey, Isle of Man, t ...
on the
Isle of Man
)
, anthem = "O Land of Our Birth"
, image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg
, image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg
, mapsize =
, map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe
, map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green)
in Europe ...
.
Political career
From 2008 until 2016, Allinson had been a member of the Ramsey board of commissioners.
In the
2016 Manx general election, Allinson successfully stood for 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 ...
in Ramsey as an
independent candidate
An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent.
Some politicians have political views th ...
, receiving 47% of the vote. He served in various positions in the House, including as the chair of the
Manx Utilities Authority
The Manx Utilities Authority ( gv, bun shirveishyn vannin) is a Statutory Board of the Isle of Man Government which provides utilities for the Isle of Man. It was created in 2014 by the merging of the Manx Electricity Authority with the Isle of ...
. In 2020, Allinson was appointed to the
Council of Ministers
A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...
as the
Minister for Education, Sport and Culture by Chief 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 ...
.
Allinson sought re-election to the House of Keys in the
2021 Manx general election, and was re-elected with 25% of the vote. Allinson ran for Chief Minister following the election; he was defeated by
Alfred Cannan
Alfred Louis Cannan 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 2 ...
, having received the votes of 8 MHKs compared to Cannan's 14. However, Cannan retained Allinson in the Council of Ministers and appointed him
Minister for Enterprise. In this role, Allinson was in charge of much of the
economy of the Isle of Man
The economy of the Isle of Man is a low-tax economy with insurance, online gambling operators and developers, information and communications technology (ICT), and offshore banking forming key sectors of the island's economy.
As an offshore financ ...
.
In May 2022, Allinson was appointed
Minister for the Treasury following the resignation of
David Ashford
David John Ashford is an independent politician in the Isle of Man. He was born in 1977 in Douglas. He has served as a Member of the House of Keys (MHK) for the Douglas North constituency since 2016.
Political career
Previously he had been ...
.
Political positions
Allinson has been described as a progressive reformer.
In 2019, he led a successful legislative effort to legalize
abortion on the Isle of Man.
A supporter of efforts to counter
climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
, Allinson helped create and fund a
carbon offset
A carbon offset is a reduction or removal of emissions of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases made in order to compensate for emissions made elsewhere. Offsets are measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2e). One ton of carbon ...
plan for the 2022
Isle of Man TT
The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May/June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907. The event is often called one of the most dangerous racing events in the world ...
. Allinson is also a proponent for
assisted suicide
Assisted suicide is suicide undertaken with the aid of another person. The term usually refers to physician-assisted suicide (PAS), which is suicide that is assisted by a physician or other healthcare provider. Once it is determined that the p ...
for terminally-ill patients, having introduced two motions into the House of Keys regarding the matter.
During his campaign for chief minister, Allinson outlined several other policies he would support, including
affordable housing
Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on affo ...
, further restriction on
zero-hour contracts, and the
decriminalisation
Decriminalization or decriminalisation is the reclassification in law relating to certain acts or aspects of such to the effect that they are no longer considered a crime, including the removal of criminal penalties in relation to them. This refor ...
of
cannabis
''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: ''Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternatively ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allinson, Alex
1966 births
People from Ramsey, Isle of Man
Members of the House of Keys 2016–2021
Members of the House of Keys 2021–2026
21st-century Manx politicians
Manx medical doctors
Living people
Date of birth missing (living people)
Alumni of King's College, Cambridge