George Waft

George Henry Waft (1937 – 29 September 2026) was a Manx politician who served in the Legislative Council of the Isle of Man from 1994 to 2010. Prior to his tenure in the legislative council, he was a member of Onchan's board of commissioners from 1971 to 1991, and of the House of Keys from 1991 to 1994.

George Henry Waft was born in 1937. His father died at age 35 a few months after his birth due to pneumonia. His family moved in with his grandparents; his grandfather George Jewell operated a newspaper agency in Douglas. He was educated at the Tynwald Street and Desmesne Road Primary Schools and Ballakermeen and Douglas High School. Waft attended the Isle of Man College of Further Education, Naval Training College, and Isle of Man Nurse Training School. He also studied through the Open University.

Waft was a catering officer for naval companies. He worked for the Department of Health and Social Security for 30 years as a psychiatric nurse.

From 1971 to 1991, Waft served on Onchan's board of commissioners; he served as chair of the board twice. In 1991, Waft won a seat in the House of Keys through a by-election. He was appointed to the Legislative Council of the Isle of Man in 1994. He left the legislative council in 2010, and retired from politics.

In 1993, the practice of birching was abolished by legislation proposed by Waft. It was already abolished in the jurisdictions of Great Britain and the last attempt to do birching on the Isle of Man was in 1981. Waft was one of the main supporters of the Disability Discrimination Act, which prohibited discrimination against disabled people in education, transportation, and building access. In 2013, he criticised the act not being implemented despite it receiving royal assent in 2006.

Waft joined the Royal British Legion in 1998, and later became president of the RBL's branch in Onchan. He was president of the Overseas Aid Committee. He wrote From Tynwald Street to Tynwald Hill, which was published in 2006.

Waft married Lynn Jeanette Howarth on 29 April 1961. He died on 29 September 2026, aged 89.