David Cannan: Tributes paid to Isle of Man 'political grandee'

David Cannan was elected to the House of Keys to represent Michael in six consecutive elections

Tributes have been paid to Manx "political grandee" David Cannan, who has died at the age of 85.

Mr Cannan represented the House of Keys constituency of Michael for nearly three decades before retiring in 2011.

Father of the current chief minister, Alfred Cannan, he was the first to hold the role of treasury minister after the introduction of ministerial government.

President of Tynwald Laurence Skelly said he had served with "distinction".

He would be "remembered as an articulate and formidable debater" who achieved much for the people he represented, he added.

Born in Kirk Michael in 1936 and educated at King William's College, he was first elected in Michael in 1982, and was returned to the House of Keys each subsequent election until his retirement.

During his parliamentary career, Mr Cannan served on a number of boards, committees and departments, including a brief stint as Speaker of the House of Keys in 2001.

A portrait of David Cannan painted by Svetlana Cameron hangs in the House of Keys

Although he spent the majority of his political career as a backbencher, Mr Cannan became the island's first treasury minister in 1986 when the Manx government was reconstituted from a board structure to its present day system of departments, holding the position for three years.

Two years before that change, he successfully proposed the title "chief minister" for the role of the leader of the government, a position his son Alfred Cannan went on to take up last year.

Speaker of the House of Keys, Juan Watterson said it was a privilege to work alongside Mr Cannan during his final term, and described him as a "political grandee spanning a generation of Manx politics".

"He was particularly proud of his involvement in providing sheltered housing in Kirk Michael, and worked tirelessly with his wife Patricia to support his constituents," Mr Watterson added.