The Standing Orders Committee of the House of Keys has published a report (PP 2024/0051) setting out new proposals for how Chief Ministers could be elected in the future. The Committee decided to review this procedure as part of a wider review of Standing Orders which it embarked on soon after the 2021 General Election. It was one of the topics on which all Tynwald Members were consulted in June 2022 and was discussed at a workshop on 5th December 2022 to which all Members of Tynwald were invited. There was a further consultation with all Members in August 2023.

Under the Council of Ministers Act 1990, it is the function of the House of Keys to nominate a Chief Minister for appointment by the Governor. The present procedure leading to that nomination involves the publication of a written policy statement, a hustings which is videoed and published on YouTube, an open election process in which everyone knows who has voted for whom, and a confirmatory vote in which the preferred candidate must reach the threshold of 13 votes specified by the Act. No change is proposed to these elements of the procedure.

At present, the procedures do not allow MHKs who wish to be Chief Minister any voice within the parliamentary setting. Rather, candidates must be proposed by other Members. Those proposers may make brief speeches but there is no debate. In the future it is proposed that the candidates themselves would speak and answer Questions from other Members before the voting takes place. The Committee believes that this will make the process both more thorough and more transparent.

The proposals will be debated in the House of Keys on a date yet to be specified. If agreed by the House they would have immediate effect. This means that they would be put into practice the next time it is necessary to elect a Chief Minister, which will be immediately after the 2026 General Election or sooner in the event of a casual vacancy arising.

The full report can be found by clicking the following link: PP 2024/0051 (tynwald.org.im)

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Contact point for further information:

Jonathan King, Clerk of Tynwald
Office of the Clerk of Tynwald
Telephone: 01624 685500
Email: enquiries@tynwald.org.im
Website: www.tynwald.org.im