MHKs agree to progress Bill removing Bishop's vote from Tynwald

It will now be signed by Tynwald members before receiving Royal Assent and being promulgated

The House of Keys has finished debating a Bill which will remove the Bishop's right to vote in Tynwald.

It's a momentous day in Manx politics, but how did we get here?

In 2023 Ramsey member Lawrie Hooper presented a Bill to his political colleagues, calling for the Bishop's vote to be removed from Tynwald.

After it was supported by the House of Keys, the Legislative Council set up a Select Committee on the Isle of Man Constitution Bill 2023 to look at the possible impacts of the decision.

It then wrote a report based on its findings, and while it deliberately made no recommendation either for or against the Bill, it did outline a number of potential implications.

That meant the Bill was able to continue progressing through the Manx legislative process, which is what's happened today as it came before members of the House of Keys to consider specific clauses.

However, Onchan MHK Rob Callister made the point that the report from the Legislative Council's Select Committee had never been formally received by the House of Keys, arguing that it should be.

He asked for his motion to be heard first, which his fellow MHKs agreed to. 

Mr Callister then laid out some of his reasons for doing so:

There seemed to be a slight shift among some members following the information put forward in the report.

Douglas Central member Ann Corlett, who supported removing the Bishop's vote, said she felt like the Island was being 'held to ransom':

However, the initial mover of the Bill, Mr Hooper, disputed some of the concerns of his colleagues:

After debating for nearly two hours, members voted in favour of receiving the report, with a slight amendment from Douglas Central's Chris Thomas to include that the House strongly supports the continuation of the Diocese of Sodor and Man.

That wasn't the end of it though, because Mr Callister then asked members to adjourn the consideration of clauses of the Isle of Man Constitution Bill 2023.

After a bit of back and forth MHKs decided not to 'throw it into the long grass', as Mr Callister proposed, and voted to consider the clauses.

The only thing they had to decide was whether to add that the Act will start either the day after the tenure of the current Bishop ends or on the fifth anniversary of its Royal Assent, whichever comes first.

They agreed that it should, and therefore it will now progress to the next stage, which is to be signed by Tynwald members before receiving Royal Assent and eventually being promulgated on Tynwald Day.