Allan Robert Bell (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 was 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 ...

for

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 ...

from 1984 to September 2016, and served in several different ministerial roles. He was replaced as Chief Minister on 4 October 2016.

Early life and education

Bell was educated at

Ramsey Grammar School Ramsey Grammar School is a coeducational comprehensive secondary school located in Ramsey, on the Isle of Man. History A grammar school has existed in Ramsey since 1681. It moved to Lezayre Road in 1933 and was housed in a building that now f ...

. He was involved in banking and clothing retail prior to entering politics.

Political career

Bell was first elected to 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 ...

as an

representing

in a 1984

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

and continued as such until 22 September 2016 when he did not seek re-election. He had first, unsuccessfully. contested Ramsey in 1976 as a candidate for Manx nationalist party Mec Vannin. He 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 The industry minister is a cabinet position in a government. The title may refer to the head of the governmental department that specializes in industry. This position may also be responsible for trade and employment, areas that fall under the mini ...

, from 1991–96,

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 ...

, from 1996–2001, Minister of the Treasury, from 2001–10 and was the first Minister for Economic Development, from 2010–11. He was named as a central figure in the "corruption of the system of government" identified by Mount Murray Commission of Inquiry (2002-2003), referring to his time as Tourism Minister in the early 1990s.

Chief Minister

On 11 October 2011, Bell was elected Chief Minister of the Isle of Man, winning a clear majority over

Liberal Vannin The Liberal Vannin Party (LVP; gv, Partee Libraalagh Vannin) is a political party in the Isle of Man. It was founded in 2006 by Peter Karran, then an Independent MHK for Onchan. Karran had been, until 2004, a member of the Manx Labour Party. ...

opponent

Peter Karran Peter Karran (born 20 May 1960) is a Manx politician, who is a former leader of the Liberal Vannin Party and former Minister of Education and Children. He was a Member of the House of Keys for Middle, and then for Onchan, from 1985 to 2016. ...

. Bell was proposed by

Eddie Teare William Edward "Eddie" Teare, (born 10 May 1948) is a Manx politician, who was the Minister of the Treasury from 2011 to 2016 after holding other ministerial positions. He was MHK (Member of the House of Keys) for Ayre from 2004 to 2016, having ...

and seconded by

Laurence Skelly Laurence David Skelly MLC is a Manx politician, who has served as President of Tynwald since July 2021. Political career He was elected as one of the three MHKs for Rushen in 2011, with 19.4% of the vote and was re-elected in 2016 as one ...

. While Bell was Chief Minister in 2013, the government signed a deal involving a £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 ngthe 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 John Shimmin (born 1 July 1960) is a former Member of the House of Keys for Douglas West. Early life Shimmin was born in Douglas in 1960 and educated at St Ninian's High School and the Worcester College of Higher Education. He was then a teac ...

. Bell was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for public service to the Isle of Man.

Government positions

* Minister of Tourism and Transport, 1986–90 * Minister of Tourism, Leisure and Transport, 1990–94 *

, 1991–96 *

, 1996–2001 * Minister of the Treasury, 2001–10 * Minister for Economic Development, 2010–11 * Chief Minister of the Isle of Man, 2011–2016

Personal life

In a 2015 interview with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Allan 1947 births Chief Ministers of the Isle of Man Gay politicians Living people Members of the House of Keys 1981–1986 Members of the House of Keys 1986–1991 Members of the House of Keys 1991–1996 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 LGBT heads of government Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 21st-century LGBT people