Phil Gawne | |
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Born |
Philip Anderson Gawne 19 February 1965 (age 52) Douglas, Isle of Man |
Nationality | Manx |
Education | Arbory Primary School Castle Rushen High School |
Alma mater | University of Liverpool |
Occupation | Politician |
Years active | 2001–present |
Employer | Isle of Man Government |
Spouse(s) | Catherine Kissack (m. 1991) |
Children | 1 son, 1 daughter |
Website | www |
Philip Anderson "Phil" Gawne BSc (born 19 February 1965) is a former Member of the House of Keys for Rushen, a constituency in the Isle of Man. He is also a former Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and therefore a former member of the Council of Ministers.
Following constituency boundary changes to the Isle of Man's political map, Gawne contested the newly formed Arbory, Castletown & Malew constituency at the 2016 Manx General Election.The seat was contested by a total of seven candidates with Gawne polling the third highest number of votes, thus losing his parliamentary seat. The contest was close with Gawne losing by a total of 19 votes after two re-counts.
Born in 1965 in Douglas to C.R. Gawne CP and E. Gawne (née Anderson), he is a fluent speaker of the Manx language, the ancient language of the Isle of Man. He has done much to save this minority language in recent years; he once served as the Manx Language Development Officer.
During the 1980s he was involved with a nationalist campaign that ended with an arson attack on an uncompleted luxury home in Tromode. In 1988 he was sent to prison for 16 months, serving 8 months, for his part in this arson attack.
Gawne has been married to Catherine (née Kissack) since 1991; they have two children and live in the hamlet of Surby in the south of the Island.