Alfred Cannan
Alfred Louis Cannan MHK is an independent Member of the House of Keys for Ayre & Michael.
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| This article is part of a series on the politics and government of the Isle of Man |
Political career
In 2011, he was elected MHK for the former constituency of Michael
Cannan's first appointment was chairman of the Civil Service Commission, serving from 2011 to 2014. In 2014 he was appointed chairman of the newly formed Manx Utilities Authority.
From 2015 to 2016 he was also a political member of the Department of Economic Development.[1]
In 2016 he was elected MHK for Ayre & Michael, winning the highest number of votes in the two-member constituency.
Cannan narrowly lost a bid for Chief Minister to Howard Quayle and was appointed Treasury Minister in October 2016.
His term of office has already been marked by some significant decisions. In October 2017 Cannan wrote off £95m of debts owed by the Manx Utilities Authority; in February 2018 pension freedoms were controversially introduced; and in May 2018 the Isle of Man Government purchased the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company for £124.3m.
Cannan has been a strong advocate for reform of the NHS on the Isle of Man and was instrumental in initiating the review by Sir Jonathan Michael which has led to a proposed separation of policy and operations and the formation of a new delivery organisation named Manx Care.
He has maintained that the focus of his budgets must be on “working families” and the challenge of dealing with a decade of low wage growth. His budgets have seen significant rises in personal tax allowances alongside targeted above inflation welfare increases for low paid workers as well as child benefit.
Personal
Cannan was born in 1968 and educated at King William's College, Isle of Man, and Sandhurst. He then served as an army officer for four years, before going into business.
He has three children with his wife Bella.[2]