Thomas Nathan

The Hon. Thomas Michael Nathan (b. November 2, 1953) is the present Chief Minister of Long Island. Nathan became Chief Minister in 2003 following the resignation of Bob Patterson on corruption charges. He is a member of the Liberal Democratic Party of the United Islands. Nathan entered politics at a young age, and never attended university. By trade a bus driver, he entered the local union and the United Islands Labour Party at the age of 21 and worked his way through union ranks, becoming the state president of the Transport Industry Workers Union in 1987. In 1990 he was elected to the state legislature for the Labour Party. When Bob Patterson became Chief Minister in 1994, he appointed Nathan as Minister for Roads. He became Minister for Transport in 1998. In 1999, Nathan joined the new United Islands Liberal Party formed by supporters of Campbell Rhodes and continued in government. In 2002, Nathan was made Minister for Agriculture. In September 2003, Patterson resigned having been indicted on corruption charges. Initially, Nathan supported the Finance minister, Charles Jones for the leadership, but when Jones ruled himself out, Nathan took his place on the ballot. He defeated the state Treasurer, Victoria Englehart to become the state's 26th Chief Minister. Nathan made some dramatic changes to the state's electoral laws in 2004, including the introduction of a Mixed Member Proportional system of election for the state legislature. In December 2005, Nathan was re-elected as Chief Minister, though under the new system the Liberal Democrats failed to win a majority of seats. In addition to being Chief Minister, Nathan is also the state Attorney General.