MHKs may be able to nominate themselves for top job

Proposed changes to be debated ahead of next election

Members of the House of Keys will be able to nominate themselves to be chief minister in the future, if new proposals are approved.

A new report from the Standing Orders Committee of the House of Keys reviewed the process currently in place.

It was one of the topics which all Tynwald members were consulted on in June 2022, with a further consultation completed in August 2023.

Under the Council of Ministers Act 1990, the House of Keys nominates a chief minister for appointment by the Lieutenant 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.

However, 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 who may make brief speeches - but there is no debate.

The new proposals mean that future candidates could speak for themselves and answer questions from other members before the voting takes place. 

The committee says it believes that this will 'make the process both more thorough and more transparent'.

The proposed changes will be debated in the House of Keys, and if agreed, would have immediate effect, meaning 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 HERE.