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 Rushen ( ; gv, Rosien), formally Kirk Christ Rushen, is one of the seventeen historic parishes of the Isle of Man. It is located in the south of the island (part of the traditional ''South Side'' division) in the sheading of the same name. A ...

in 2011, with 19.4% of the vote and was re-elected in 2016 as one of the two members for the new Rushen constituency following the boundary review in 2013 with 21% of the vote. In March 2014 he was appointed Minister for Infrastructure and following the resignation of John Shimmin in July of that year was appointed Minister for Economic Development. Following 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 ...

, Skelly considered standing as

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 ...

but decided not to do so and instead continued to hold the Economic Development portfolio within the Howard Quayle administration. In May 2021 he stated that he will not seek re-election in the

2021 Manx General Election General elections were held in the Isle of Man on 23 September 2021. A record ten women were elected, twice as many as the five elected at the previous election. For the first time, in two constituencies, both elected MHKs were women. Four gover ...

but stated that he would stand for the position of

President of Tynwald The President of Tynwald (''Eaghtyrane Tinvaal'') is the presiding officer at the sittings of Tynwald Court in Douglas and is elected by the members of Tynwald from amongst their number. The first elected President, Charles Kerruish, was ele ...

, the apolitical presiding officer of Tynwald Court and the Legislative Council. In July 2021, Skelly was elected as

, succeeding Steve Rodan. He defeated Speaker of the House of Keys Juan Watterson by a vote of 20 to 12.

Election results

2011

2016

In 2014,

Tynwald Tynwald ( gv, Tinvaal), or more formally, the High Court of Tynwald ( gv, Ard-whaiyl Tinvaal) or Tynwald Court, is the legislature of the Isle of Man. It consists of two chambers, known as the branches of Tynwald: the directly elected House of ...

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 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 L ...

. As a result of these changes the constituency was reduced in size and lost one of its three MHKs.

Governmental positions

* Minister for Department of Economic Development 2014–present

References

Living people Members of the House of Keys 2011–2016 Members of the House of Keys 2016–2021 1961 births {{IsleofMan-politician-stub