John Ramsey Houghton MHK (born 1958/1959 in

Douglas, Isle of Man Douglas ( gv, Doolish, ) is the capital and largest town of the Isle of Man, with a population of 26,677 (2021). It is located at the mouth of the River Douglas, and on a sweeping bay of . The River Douglas forms part of the town's harbour ...

) is a former Isle of Man politician who served as Member of the House of Keys for Douglas North until losing his seat in the

2016 Manx General Election General elections were held in the Isle of Man on 22 September 2016. Independents won 21 of the 24 seats in the House of Keys. A record number of women were elected (5, or 21% of the House). Electoral system Following changes to the electoral sy ...

. He has two daughters.

Political career

Houghton is an outspoken critic of the Isle of Man Constabulary and its former Chief Constable, Mike Culverhouse. During the 'Manx Bugging Scandal' in 2000, he publicly supported former Deputy Chief Constable Neil Kinrade. Houghton previously served as a Commandant of the Special Constabulary and Chairman of the Civil Service Commission. In 2009, Houghton objected to the Gender Recognition Bill as he believed new laws to protect the rights of transsexuals living on the Isle of Man would "defy common decency". It was announced on July 16, 2012, that he was to take over from Graham Creegen as Chairman of Isle of Man Water Auth. Houghton lost his seat in the general election held on 22 September 2016.

Pension controversy

In December 2014, it was discovered that out of the 24 MHKs he was the only one not paying into the Tynwald Members Pension Scheme (despite an earlier statement to the contrary). Back in March 2012, he had described an enquiry sent to all members of the Manx parliament from

Manx Radio Manx Radio (legally Radio Manx Ltd.) ( gv, Radio Vannin) is the national commercial radio station for the Isle of Man. It began broadcasting on 29 June 1964, almost ten years before commercial radio was licensed in the United Kingdom. The Isle of ...

as to whether they would contribute towards their taxpayer funded Tynwald pension message as "arrogant", asked if they had nothing better to do and followed that up with a personal attack on the station.

Accusations of poor behaviour

Houghton has been reprimanded or disciplined on a number of occasions by the President of Tynwald and the Speaker of the House of Keys for his

unparliamentary language Parliaments and legislative bodies around the world impose certain rules and standards during debates. Tradition has evolved that there are words or phrases that are deemed inappropriate for use in the legislature whilst it is in session. In a ...

. In 2011, during a 3-day Tynwald session Houghton was accused a number of times of abusing his Tynwald privileges and for making verbal attacks on civil service officers. In May 2016, Houghton was the subject of a parliamentary committee report brought before Tynwald due to accusations of "lying, bullying and interfering in a staff dispute". His behaviour was also described as ‘unrelenting, aggressive and unprecedented’ and led to a member of staff in the Clerk of Tynwald's office resigning.

Governmental positions

*Chairman of

Isle of Man Water and Sewerage Authority The Isle of Man Water and Sewerage Authority (Manx: ''Lught-reill Ushtey as Sornaigys Ellan Vannin'') was the Isle of Man Government, statutory board responsible for water supply and sewage disposal in the Isle of Man. It was formed in 1972 as ...

, 2012–present *Chairman of the Civil Service Commission, 2004–? *Member of the Whitely Council, 2004–09

References

External links

Unparliamentary language
{{DEFAULTSORT:Houghton, John Living people 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 Manx police officers Year of birth missing (living people)