Alex Allinson

{{Short description|Manx politician (born 1966)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Alex Allinson

| image = AllinsonA2021.jpg

| honorific-prefix = The Honourable

| honorific_suffix = BChir MHK

| office = Member of the House of Keys for
Ramsey

| termstart = 23 September 2021

| alongside = Lawrie Hooper

{{collapsed infobox section begin|div=yes|Ministerial offices|titlestyle=border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}

| office1 = Minister of the Treasury

| predecessor1 = David Ashford

| termstart1 = 20 May 2022

| 1blankname1 = Chief Minister

| 1namedata1 = Alfred Cannan

| office2 = Minister for Enterprise

| predecessor2 = Laurence Skelly

| successor2 = Alfred Cannan

| 1blankname2 = Chief Minister

| 1namedata2 = Alfred Cannan

| termstart2 = 15 October 2021

| termend2 = 20 May 2022

| office3 = Minister for Education, Sport and Culture

| 1blankname3 = Chief Minister

| 1namedata3 = Howard Quayle

| termstart3 = 3 March 2020

| termend3 = 15 October 2021

| predecessor3 = Graham Cregeen

| successor3 = Julie Edge

{{collapsed infobox section end}}

| party = Independent

| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1966}}

| birth_place = London, England

| alma_mater = King's College, Cambridge MB BChir

| spouse = Gerri Allinson

| children = 2

}}

Alexander John Allinson (born 1966) is an English-born Manx physician and politician who serves as an independent member of the House of Keys, representing Ramsey since 2016. Allinson serves on the Council of Ministers as the current Minister for the Treasury, having been appointed to the role in May 2022 by Alfred Cannan, the chief minister of the Isle of Man.

Early life, education, and medical career

Allinson was born in London in 1966. He attended from the Latymer Upper School, and studied medicine at King's College, Cambridge, graduating with a master's degree in 1991. After graduating from medical school, Allinson worked at Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, Australia for a year before returning to England, becoming a pediatrician in Hackney. After qualifying as a General Practitioner he later moved back to Australia, and spent over two years in Geraldton, where he worked with the Aboriginal Medical Service. He returned to England, becoming a locum tenens physician in London. In 2002, Allinson became a general practitioner in the town of Ramsey on the Isle of Man.{{Cite web |title=Hon Alex Allinson |url=https://www.tynwald.org.im/members/alex-allinson |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=Tynwald}}

Political career

From 2008 until 2016, Allinson had been a member of the Ramsey board of commissioners.{{Cite news |date=2021-09-25 |title=Isle of Man election: Who are the new members of the House of Keys? |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-58673909 |access-date=2022-06-18}}

In the 2016 Manx general election, Allinson successfully stood for the House of Keys in Ramsey as an independent candidate, receiving 47% of the vote.{{Cite web |title=2016 General Election - Constituency Results |url=https://www.gov.im/media/1353347/2016-general-election-results-and-turnout.pdf |access-date=June 18, 2021 |website=Isle of Man Government}} He served in various positions in the House, including as the chair of the Manx Utilities Authority. In 2020, Allinson was appointed to the Council of Ministers as the Minister for Education, Sport and Culture by Chief Minister Howard Quayle.{{Cite news |date=2021-10-07 |title=Isle of Man: Candidates for chief minister lay out policy ambitions |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-58828680 |access-date=2022-06-18}}

Allinson sought re-election to the House of Keys in the 2021 Manx general election, and was re-elected with 25% of the vote.{{Cite web |date=September 23, 2021 |title=Notice of Result for the General Election to the House of Keys 2021 |url=https://www.gov.im/media/1374591/ramsey-notice-of-result.pdf |access-date=June 18, 2021 |website=Isle of Man Government}} Allinson ran for Chief Minister following the election; he was defeated by Alfred Cannan, having received the votes of 8 MHKs compared to Cannan's 14.{{Cite news |date=2021-10-12 |title=Isle of Man: Alfred Cannan elected new chief minister |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-58875374 |access-date=2022-06-18}} However, Cannan retained Allinson in the Council of Ministers and appointed him Minister for Enterprise. In this role, Allinson was in charge of much of the economy of the Isle of Man.{{Cite news |date=2021-10-18 |title=Isle of Man: Who is in Alfred Cannan's Council of Ministers? |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-58955035 |access-date=2022-06-18}}

In May 2022, Allinson was appointed Minister for the Treasury following the resignation of David Ashford.{{Cite web |date=May 20, 2022 |title=Allinson takes over as Treasury Minister |url=https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/allinson-takes-over-as-treasury-minister/ |access-date=2022-06-18 |website=Manx Radio |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=May 20, 2022 |title=Dr Alex Allinson appointed Treasury Minister |url=https://www.gov.im/news/2022/may/20/dr-alex-allinson-appointed-treasury-minister/ |access-date=2022-06-18 |website=Isle of Man Government}}

= Political positions =

Allinson has been described as a progressive reformer. In 2019, he led a successful legislative effort to legalize abortion on the Isle of Man. A supporter of efforts to counter climate change, Allinson helped create and fund a carbon offset plan for the 2022 Isle of Man TT.{{Cite news |date=2022-05-24 |title=Isle of Man TT: Carbon footprint of races be offset |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-61573030 |access-date=2022-06-18}} Allinson is also a proponent for assisted suicide for terminally-ill patients, having introduced two motions into the House of Keys regarding the matter.{{Cite web |last=Cooke |first=Leanne |date=May 23, 2022 |title=Dr Allinson to present Assisted dying bill to HOK |url=https://www.three.fm/news/isle-of-man-news/dr-allinson-to-present-assisted-dying-bill-to-hok/ |access-date=2022-06-18 |website=3FM |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Nettle |first=Gemma |date=2022-05-23 |title=Allinson to introduce Assisted Dying Bill {{!}} iomtoday.co.im |url=https://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/health/allinson-to-introduce-assisted-dying-bill-548151 |access-date=2022-06-18 |website=Isle of Man Today}} During his campaign for chief minister, Allinson outlined several other policies he would support, including affordable housing, further restriction on zero-hour contracts, and the decriminalisation of cannabis.

References