Mike Summers Explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Honourable
Mike Summers
Honorific-Suffix:OBE
Constituency Am:Stanley
Assembly:Falkland Islands Legislative
Term Start:23 June 2011
Term End:9 November 2017
Predecessor:Glenn Ross
Successor:Mark Pollard
Office1:Member of the Falkland Islands Legislative Council
for Stanley
Term Start1:17 October 1996
Term End1:5 November 2009
Predecessor1:John Cheek
Successor1:Gavin Short
Birth Place:Stanley, Falkland Islands
Nationality:British
Party:Nonpartisan
Spouse:Jacqueline
Alma Mater:Middlesex University

Michael Victor Summers (born 1952) is a Falkland Islands politician who served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly for the Stanley constituency from 2011 to 2017.[1] He was previously a Member of the Legislative Council from 1996–2009.[2]

Summers was born in Stanley and grew up in Port Howard. He moved to the UK at the age of eleven after winning a government scholarship to Shaftesbury Grammar School, a Dorset boarding school. He went on to read business studies at Middlesex University. After university, Summers worked for various construction and engineering companies all round the world, before returning to the Falklands in 1989 when he became General Manager of the Falkland Islands Development Corporation. During his time as General Manager, Summers negotiated the air link between the Falklands and mainland South America with the Chilean airline LAN, which remains the only commercial airline to fly to the islands.[2]

Summers resigned as General Manager in 1996 to pursue a political career. Later that year he was elected in a by-election to the Legislative Council (which was reconstituted as the Legislative Assembly in the 2009 constitution). Summers was re-elected in 1997, 2001 and 2005, but he lost his seat in the 2009 general election.[3]

In 2011, Summers returned to the Legislative Assembly after winning a by-election to fill the seat left vacant by Glenn Ross. At the time of the election, Summers was in the Isle of Wight for the 2011 Island Games in his role as Team Leader of the Falkland Islands Overseas Games Association.[1] In April 2017, Mike Summers was the only member to vote against same-sex marriage, but did vote in favour of civil partnerships.[4]

He won re-election in 2013 but stepped down from the assembly at the 2017 general election.

In September 2019 Summers was elected Chair of the Falkland Islands Chamber of Commerce Board following the 2019 Annual General Meeting.[5]

Notes and References

  1. News: Summers wins Falklands MLA seat . MercoPress . 24 June 2011 . 25 June 2011.
  2. Web site: Mike Summers bio . Falkland Islands Government . falklands.gov.fk . 25 June 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120225173132/http://www.falklands.gov.fk/assembly/Hon._Michael_Summers_OBE.html . 25 February 2012 .
  3. News: Falklands Election – Stanley Constituency Upset . J. . Brock . South Atlantic Remote Territories Media Association . 6 November 2009 . 25 June 2011.
  4. News: Falklands plans to celebrate same sex marriage bill next April 27 . MercoPress . 12 April 2017 . 11 November 2017.
  5. News: Falklands' Chamber of Commerce Board elects Mike Summers as Chair . 30 September 2019 . MercoPress . 27 September 2019 . en.