Laurie Morgan

Laurie Morgan was born in London on 17 December 1930. He worked for Shell and in the local motor trade before joining the Guernsey office of Ansbacher, and he was President of the Guernsey Chamber of Commerce from 1977 to 1979.

He joined the Post Office Board in 1982 and was elected a People’s Deputy for St Peter Port in June 1988. The States chose him as a Conseiller in 1991, and he sat on the Advisory and Finance Committee from that year. After the 2004 election, as the new machinery of government took effect, he became the first Chief Minister.

As President of the Insurance Authority for six years, he championed Guernsey’s first compulsory Specialist Medical Care Insurance Scheme despite a public campaign against it. Deputy Peter Roffey said his calm, persuasive manner won over both the public and the States.

Bailiff Sir Richard Collas called him “one businessman who did exactly that” when the financial services industry needed a voice in government. Deputy Mary Lowe called him “a lovely man”.

His time as Chief Minister ended with the Fallagate scandal. A critical report asked why the lowest tender for a new clinical block at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital had been withdrawn, and on 31 January 2007 he and the Policy Council announced they would resign. Mike Torode succeeded him on 5 March 2007. Morgan died on 18 January 2018, with his wife Wendy, also a former deputy, beside him.