Allan Robert Bell (born 20 June 1947) is a Manx politician who was the

Chief Minister of the Isle of Man The Chief Minister (Manx: ''Ard-shirveishagh'') is the executive head of the Isle of Man Government. The office derives from that of Chairman of the Executive Council. Before 1980 the Executive Council was chaired by the Lieutenant Governor, ...

, 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 * Independe ...

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 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 ...

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

Political career

Bell was first elected to the House of Keys as an

representing Ramsey 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 ...

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, from 1991–96, Minister of Home Affairs, 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

, winning a clear majority over Liberal Vannin opponent Peter Karran. 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, havin ...

and seconded by Laurence Skelly. 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 tea ...

. 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 ...

(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 * Minister of Industry, 1991–96 * Minister of Home Affairs, 1996–2001 * Minister of the Treasury, 2001–10 * Minister for Economic Development, 2010–11 *

, 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 ...

'', 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 Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

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