Donald Gelling

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Donald James Gelling CBE CP, CInstSMM MLC (born July 5, 1938) is a current member of the Legislative Council of the Isle of Man and a former Chief Minister of the Isle of Man who served 2 terms as Head of Government.

Gelling is a native Manxman who was born in Santon, a village to the south-west of Douglas. He was apprenticed in engineering from 1954 to 1959 and after National Service in the Royal Air Force he became a salesman of agricultural machinery and vehicles. He was a general manager of his company from 1969.

His political career began immediately as his National Service ended in 1961 when he was elected as a Santon Parish Commissioner; he served for 25 years and had five terms as Chairman of the Commissioners. In the Tynwald election of November 1986 Gelling was elected as Member of the House of Keys for Malew and Santon constituency. Like most political figures in the Isle of Man, Gelling does not belong to any political party and has fought elections as an Independent on his own personal record and policies.

Gelling served as Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry from 1988 to 1989 and was then appointed to the important role of Minister for Treasury. In this role he kept the Isle of Man's status as a 'tax haven' and moved to build up the financial services sector as Chairman of the Financial Supervision Commission. After the 1996 general election, Gelling was elected Chief Minister of the Isle of Man.

In the November 2001 General Election he was re-elected without opposition. He decided to retire from the Chief Ministership the following year and was elected by his Keys colleagues to be a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC). The Legislative Council is the Upper House of Tynwald, the Isle of Man Parliament. He retained his interest in the financial services industry as the head of Isle of Man Finance, a body set up by the Manx Treasury to promote the industry.

After the sudden resignation of Richard Corkill on December 2, 2004 in a financial scandal, Gelling was re-elected as Chief Minister on December 14. He staid in office then for exactly 2 years before stepping down as Chief Minister after the 2006 General Election. He remains a Member of the Legislative Council.

[edit] The Gelling 1st Council

OFFICE NAME TERM
Chief Minister Donald Gelling 1996–2001
Minister of the Treasury Richard Corkill 1996–2001
Minister of Home Affairs Allan Bell 1996–2001
Minister of Health and Social Security Clare Christian 1996–2004
Minister of Education Edgar Mann 1996–1999
  Steve Rodan 1999–2004
Minister of Trade and Industry David North 1996–2001
Minister of Tourism and Leisure David Cretney 1996–2006
Minister of Transport Tony Brown 1996–2001
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Hazel Hannan 1995–1999
  Alex Downie 1999–2001
Minister of Local Government and the Environment Edgar Quine 1996–1999
  Walter Gilbey 1999–2001

[edit] The Gelling 2nd Council

OFFICE NAME TERM
Chief Minister Donald Gelling 2004–2006
Minister of the Treasury Allan Bell 2001–present
Minister of Home Affairs Phil Braidwood 2001–2005
  John Shimmin 2005–2006
Minister of Health and Social Security Steve Rodan 2004–2006
Minister of Education David Anderson 2004–2006
Minister of Trade and Industry Alex Downie 2002–2006
Minister of Tourism and Leisure David Cretney 1996–2006
Minister of Transport John Shimmin 2002–2005
  Phil Braidwood 2005–2006
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Bill Henderson 2004–2005
  Phil Gawne 2005–present
Minister of Local Government and the Environment John Rimmington 2004–2006
Preceded by
Sir Miles Walker
Chief Minister
1996–2001
Succeeded by
Richard Kenneth Corkill
Preceded by
Richard Kenneth Corkill
Chief Minister
2004–2006
Succeeded by
Tony Brown


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