Biography

Geoffrey and Suzie BootI live with my wife Suzie on Ballagarraghyn Farm, St. Johns. I am currently MHK for the constituency Glenfaba and Peel and previously after a by-election the MHK for the constituency of Glenfaba. Prior to that I was a German Commissioner.

Suzie and I have four children. Clair, our eldest daughter and her younger sister Sara both live and work in Australia (Suzie lived in Australia in another life for 25 years). Sara is married and with her husband Carl have four young children. Tabitha and her husband Ross have now moved back to the Isle of Man with their two children who are in school locally.

Barnaby at present lives and works in the UK.

Geoffrey’s Life
I was born in 1953 and attended a number of schools in the UK following my father’s career moves. I left school with some 16 GCEs (as they were in those days). My further education was cut short when a passionate interest in motorcycles/motorcycle racing resulted in a serious accident and several months of hospitalisation, recuperation and three months of being unable to walk a very humbling experience and one which has left me with a lot of empathy for the problems associated with living with disabilities.

Boot family crestAt college my intended career option was bio-chemistry and physics but the unfortunate accident resulted in a complete career change, with the first few years of my working life spent with the then Midland Bank.

This proved an excellent insight into the world of finance and a sound footing for moving into surveying, auctioneering and estate agency work, where I became a partner for one of the larger firms of estate agents and surveyors in the UK. Parallel to this I was developing farming interests and operated a substantial soft fruit farm with later diversification into holiday, leisure and golf course development. A company sale in the 1980s enabled an even broader diversification of career into several parallel strands, which still included farming and leisure but now included aviation, property investment and development and a burning passion for politics.

During my tenure as an MHK I have continued to head up our Manx based company although daughter Tabitha is now responsible for every day operations.

Our family coat of arms (pictured here) includes the words tenacity and perseverance and that perhaps sums up my approach to life and challenges.