Official Tynwald Guests 2015

Mr Tim Cooke Chairman, Lloyds Bank International Limited

Mr Sammy Douglas MBE MLA Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly

Brigadier Ian Huntley RM Head, Centre for Defence Leadership & Management

Mr Michael Kitt TD Leas-Cheann Comhairle (Deputy Speaker), House of Dáil Éireann

Mr Simon Maddrell Executive Director, Excellent Development

Mrs Sandy Mewies AM Member of the National Assembly for Wales

The Rt Hon The Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury President of the Supreme Court

The Lord Sewel CBE Chairman of Committees & Deputy Speaker, House of Lords

The Rt Hon the Lord Shutt of Greetland OBE FCA Deputy Chairman of the UK-Isle of Man (Manx) All-Party Parliamentary Group

Mrs Elaine Smith MSP Deputy Presiding Officer, The Scottish Parliament

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Mr Tim Cooke, Chairman, Lloyds Bank International Limited

Tim Cooke is Chairman of Lloyds Bank International Ltd.

After graduating in history from University College London (UCL), Tim joined Barclays where he worked for 23 years in a variety of senior roles within the bank. Recruited by Lloyds Bank in 2004, Tim built a Credit Portfolio Management capability from scratch; his team played a key role in improving the portfolio of loans during the aftermath of the merger with HBOS.

Three years ago he moved to his current role which is close to being a dream job, not least as it includes responsibility for the business of the Lloyds Group in the Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey and Alderney. The majority of the employees of Lloyds Bank International are now based in the Isle of Man where the bank has a long and proud history of supporting the local communities.

Outside work Tim is involved with a number of educational charities. He is accompanied by his wife, Sara, and they have two sons, James and Edward.

Mr Sammy Douglas MBE MLA, Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly

Sammy Douglas is a Democratic Unionist Party politician who was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly, Stormont in 2011 for the Belfast East constituency. At Stormont, he is a member of the Justice Committee and Social Development Committee.

Sammy lives in East Belfast and was formerly a self-employed social and economic regeneration advisor to East Belfast Partnership as well as a former Community Advisor to First Minister Peter Robinson.

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For over twenty years, Sammy has been at the forefront of regeneration in the East Belfast area. He has extensive experience, much of it on a voluntary basis, of working at a local and area-wide level with community, voluntary and church groups.

Formerly with the International Fund for Ireland, Sammy helped to promote and foster social economy and job creation projects that attracted around £50 million of funding for initiatives in inner and outer East Belfast. He is also a founding member and Project Champion of the Connswater Community Greenway, a £32 million Linear Park investment. In November 2002, Sammy was awarded an MBE for Services to the Community and a Commendation for Outstanding Leadership by the US Department of Commerce.

Brigadier Ian Huntley RM, Head, Centre for Defence Leadership & Management

Ian Huntley joined the Royal Marines on a university cadetship. His operational experience, mainly with 3 Commando Brigade, includes Northern Ireland, Iraq and as the UK Deputy Task Force Commander in Afghanistan. He also commanded 43 Commando FP Group, tasked with guarding nuclear weapons and facilities, and for providing specialist maritime boarding teams. He spent two tours in the Ministry of Defence working in Targeting and then in Counter Terrorism and Resilience. He was seconded to the Cabinet Office to work on the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review. He took up his current appointment as Head of the Centre for Defence Leadership and Management in 2011.

Ian Huntley is married to Anne-Marie; they have three adult children and one senior mongrel. He is a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute and an Honorary Fellow of Harris Manchester College, Oxford. However, his proudest boast is that he is 1/16 Manx!

Mr Michael Kitt TD, Leas-Cheann Comhairle (Deputy Speaker), House of Dáil Éireann

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Member of Dáil Éireann for Galway East constituency.

Career Details Elected Deputy Speaker of Dáil Éireann, March 2011. Member of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and the Joint Committee on Public Oversight and Petitions. Party (Fianna Fáil) spokesperson on Housing, Planning and Gaeltacht Affairs. Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (with special responsibility for Local Services) May 2008-April 2009. Minister of State with special responsibility for Overseas Development at the Department of Foreign Affairs, June 2007-May 2008. Party (Fianna Fáil) spokesperson on Emigration and the Third World (1995-97). Minister of State at the Department of An Taoiseach 1991-92. Member of the Seanad 1977-81. Member Galway County Council 1975-91 (Chairman 1985-86). Member of Western Health Board 1992. Member of Observer Committee to the Western European Union.

Personal Details Married to Catherine Mannion, three sons, one daughter. Educated at St. Jarlath's College, Tuam, St. Patrick's Teacher Training College, Drumcondra, Dublin, UCD (BA, HdipED) and UCG. Full time public representative, former teacher. Son of Michael F Kitt, Dáil Deputy 1948-51, 1957-75. Brother of Tom Kitt, former Dáil Deputy for Dublin South and Áine Brady former Dáil Deputy for Kildare North.

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Mr Simon Maddrell, Executive Director, Excellent Development

Simon Maddrell is the founder and Executive Director of Excellent Development, a charity registered in the Isle of Man and England & Wales, which supports some of the world's poorest communities to transform their lives with sand dams.

Born in Douglas, Simon's Manx family history dates back over 350 years in Grenaby Farm, Rushen. His favourite places in the world are the Island's glens but he is also an avid scuba diver, occasional sea fisherman and amateur poet. Simon is an honorary Rotarian and in 2013 he was awarded Rotary’s Paul Harris Fellowship.

After gaining a degree in Peace Studies, Simon spent twelve years in the corporate sector, in a broad spectrum of manufacturing & supply chain roles before running document services for BT. In 2002 he quit his career and set up the award-winning charity Excellent Development.

Excellent Development supports rural dryland communities to build sand dams, a little known, but life-transforming, rainwater harvesting technology. Under Simon’s leadership, Excellent Development has enabled the construction of 838 sand dams, bringing clean water close to home for almost one million people in chronically water-scarce places.

A key part of Simon’s work is promoting sand dams on the international stage - enabling their large-scale implementation for the benefit of some of the world’s poorest people. His zealous and collaborative approach has already facilitated the adoption of sand dams as a key drylands water solution in ten countries. Excellent Development is accredited by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

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Mrs Sandy Mewies AM, Member of the National Assembly for Wales

Sandy Mewies is Labour Assembly Member for Delyn in North Wales. She was first elected in 2003 and since 2011 has served as an Assembly Commissioner. Previously she was chair of the Assembly’s European and External Affairs Committee and the Communities and Culture Committee.

Before entering politics, Sandy’s main career was in journalism, but she also worked in the voluntary sector and as a lay schools inspector. She was a County Borough councillor in Wrexham for 16 years, serving as deputy leader and chair of Social Services. In 2001 she was Mayor of Wrexham. She was a member of the Wales European Centre, Brussels and the North Wales Probation Board.

Among Sandy’s main political interests are social justice, community inclusion, health and education. She is currently a member of the Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee and Chairs Cross Party Groups on Housing and Vision loss.

She is an Honorary Fellow of Glyndwr University.

Sandy is married to Paul, a former Television Journalist.

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The Rt Hon The Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, President of the Supreme Court

The Rt. Hon. Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury (in the county of Dorset) became President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom on 1st October 2012; previously he was Master of the Rolls from 1st October 2009.

He was called to the Bar (Lincoln’s Inn) in 1974 and made a Bencher of Lincoln’s Inn in 1993.

Appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1987, his first judicial appointment was as a Recorder from 1990-1996. In 1996 he was appointed as High Court Judge, Chancery Division and then Supervisory Chancery Judge for the Midland, Wales and Chester and Western Circuits for 2000-2004.

He was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal in January 2004, a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary (‘Law Lord’) in January 2007 and given a life peerage.

Lord Neuberger led an investigation for the Bar Council into widening access to the barrister profession and also served on the panel on fair access to the professions led by Alan Milburn.

The Lord Sewel CBE, Chairman of Committees & Deputy Speaker, House of Lords

John Sewel CBE, BA, MScEcon, PhD, LL.D is the Chairman of Committees of the House of Lords and its deputy speaker.

He is a former Senior Vice-Principal of the University of Aberdeen and former parliamentary Under-Secretary of State. He was made a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland in 1997, where he assisted in steering through the legislation that led to the recreation of the Scottish Parliament. His name is given to the Sewel motion, a parliamentary device passed by the Scottish Parliament in which it agrees that the United Kingdom parliament may pass legislation on a devolved issue extending to Scotland, over which the Scottish Parliament has regular legislative authority. He left ministerial office in 1999 upon

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the new Parliament taking over the majority of the Scottish Office's functions.

John was first elected to political office as an Aberdeen District Councillor in 1974, serving as Council Leader from 1977 to 1980, and also as President of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities from 1982 to 1984. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1984 New Year Honours. He was an influential member of the Scottish Constitutional Convention from 1994 to 1995. On 10 January 1996 he was created Baron Sewel, of Gilcomstoun in the District of the City of Aberdeen, and became Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Scottish Office from 1997 to 1999, serving as the Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries. As such he piloted the Scotland Act 1998 through Parliament and helped draft the plans for the new Scottish Parliament.

John returned to the University of Aberdeen to resume his role as Vice-Principal in 1999 and was subsequently Senior Vice-Principal from 2001 to 2004. As an active member of the House of Lords, he chaired the European Union Select Committee in Agriculture, the Environment and Fisheries and was a member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. His interests focus around European Union and NATO enlargement, constitutional change and rural development.

John was elected Chairman of Committees on 9 May 2012, whereupon he gave up the Labour whip in the House of Lords. He is married to Jennifer and has two children and two step-children. He enjoys cricket, golf, reading, hill-walking and cooking.

The Rt Hon the Lord Shutt of Greetland OBE FCA, Deputy Chairman of the UK-Isle of Man (Manx) All-Party Parliamentary Group

Chartered Accountant.

Former Councillor- Calderdale MBC (1973-1990 & 1995-2003), Mayor 1982-3 and Parliamentary Candidate.

Member House of Lords since 2000.

Liberal Democrat Chief Whip 2005- 2012 (incl. 2010-2012 Deputy Chief Whip in Coalition Government).

Prior to standing down in order to enter Government in 2010, Director and Chairman - The Joseph Rowntree

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Reform Trust Ltd and Trustee - The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.

First brought on holiday to the Isle of Man as a child in the 1940s and spent holidays on the Island most years since.

Mrs Elaine Smith MSP, Deputy Presiding Officer, The Scottish Parliament

Deputy Presiding Officer and MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston.

Elaine Smith was born in Coatbridge in 1963 and was educated at St Patrick’s High School in the town. She graduated with an honours degree in Social Science (Economics and Politics) and undertook post-graduate teacher training. She also worked in local government and in the voluntary sector after teaching in various schools.

She was first elected to the Scottish Parliament in 1999 and was re-elected in 2003 and 2007. She has been a member of a wide range of committees and cross party groups in that time, and has served as a Deputy Convener of the Equal Opportunities Committee.

Following the Scottish Parliament elections of May 2011, Elaine was elected as the Deputy Presiding Officer.

She lives in Coatbridge with her husband and teenage son.

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