Donald Gelling
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The Honourable Donald James Gelling CBE CP, CInstSMM MLC (born July 5, 1938) is the current Ard-Choyrlagh or Chief Minister of the Isle of Man. He is a retired businessman.
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.
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–Now |
| 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 | |
The Gelling 2nd Council
| OFFICE | NAME | TERM |
| Chief Minister | Donald Gelling | 2004–Now |
| Minister of the Treasury | Allan Bell | 2001–Now |
| Minister of Home Affairs | Phil Braidwood | 2001–2005 |
| John Shimmin | 2005–Now | |
| Minister of Health and Social Security | Steve Rodan | 2004–Now |
| Minister of Education | David Anderson | 2004–Now |
| Minister of Trade and Industry | Alex Downie | 2002–Now |
| Minister of Tourism and Leisure | David Cretney | 1996–Now |
| Minister of Transport | John Shimmin | 2002–2005 |
| Phil Braidwood | 2005–Now | |
| Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry | Bill Henderson | 2004–2005 |
| Phil Gawne | 2005–Now | |
| Minister of Local Government and the Environment | John Rimmington | 2004–Now |
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