Ben Shenton

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[edit] Biography

Ben Shenton is the son of the politician and former Senator Dick Shenton.

He was born in Saint Helier in 1960, the third of four children and educated at De La Salle College.

He lives in Grouville, Jersey, with his wife Debbie and his two daughters, Tori (16) and Lucy (14).

Before being elected to the States he worked in the investment management business with various employers for 27 years, in both Jersey and London.

He is a Fellow of the Securities & Investment Institute ( SII ), Treasurer of the local branch of the SII, and sits on the UK editorial committee of The Securities & Investment Review.

He is also a member of the Institute of Directors and Director of The Channel Islands Co-operative Society.

He is Chief Operating Officer of TEAM Asset Management (www.teamassetmanagement.com) - a bespoke investment manager with over £350 million of discretionary funds under management.

[edit] Electoral History

Ben Shenton entered the States of Jersey at the first attempt.

He was elected as a Senator in the 2005 elections, coming second after Senator Stuart Syvret, with 14,025 votes [1].

On the 19th September, 2007 he defeated the Chief Minister's nominated candidate to become Minister for Health & Social Services. He appointed Senator Jim Perchard as Assistant Minister with special responsibility for social services.

As Health & Social Services Minister he represented Jersey at the British-Irish Council Summit held in Dublin on 14th February, 2008.

[edit] Political Philosophy

Senator Shenton identified his politics as 'roughly' those of the US Democrat party [2].

He nominated Senator Stuart Syvret for the position of Chief Minister in 2005 and was identified by Senator Stuart Syvret as his designated Treasury Minister, however Senator Syvret was defeated by Frank Walker and Senator Shenton has acted on a number of Scrutiny sub panels as well as bringing forward his own propositions.

[edit] Attributed Legislative Changes

Senator Shenton was responsible for lodging a proposition to grant a winter fuel allowance to old age pensioners in Jersey and successfully having the proposition passed by the States of Jersey. The allowance has still not yet been made available to Jersey pensioners.[citation needed]

[edit] Criticism

During the 2008 police investigation into child abuse on the island, Shenton wrote an email which undermined the police chief in charge, Lenny Harper, stating "My wife keeps referring to Lenny Harper as Lenny Henry - I don't think she's far wrong."

Mr Harper responded "I have seen the very personal attack on me by Mr Shenton. My view is that it is rather childish and bizarre. It is unhelpful to the victims and the investigation. You may well ask why the very man responsible for children's welfare on this island would wish to sabotage the investigation."

Mr Shenton responded "If it had stayed within the people that it should have stayed within, which was within the cabinet, it shouldn't have undermined the police investigation. I fully apologise to Lenny Harper if I have insulted him in any way. It wasn't intentional. It was an internal email just asking for some facts, and it was very much a political email. It was not trying to dig into the case in any way." [3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ BBC - Jersey - About Jersey - Election Results Live
  2. ^ BBC Radio Jersey Talkback November 2005
  3. ^ "Jersey minister sorry for e-mail", BBC, 6 March 2008. 
  1. Election Pamphlet, 2005
  2. BBC 2005 Interview on Policies
  3. Jersey Evening Post
Persondata
NAME Shenton, Bill
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION States of Jersey Minister for Health & Social Services, son of Jersey Senator Dick Shenton, Chief Operating Officer of TEAM Asset Management.
DATE OF BIRTH 1960
PLACE OF BIRTH Saint Helier
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH