Some Onchan residents will find themselves voting for Garff MHKs in next week’s General Election - thanks to an unusual constituency boundary running through the district.

Live in Ballachrink, for example, and you will vote for Onchan MHKs as you might expect. But walk the dozen or so steps across Whitebridge and you could instead find yourself voting in Garff.

The quirk can be particularly confusing for people who have moved to the area since the last General Election, although some longer-standing residents are still struggling to get to grips with the anomaly.

The boundary change dates back to 2016, when a review led to the restructuring of House of Keys electoral boundaries to create the current 12 constituencies, each represented by two MHKs.

As part of the changes, almost 2,500 residents in the Howstrake and Lakeside areas of Onchan were placed in the newly formed Garff constituency, separating them electorally from the rest of the district.

The changes were designed to make constituency populations more even, with each having roughly 7,000 registered voters.

Before 2016, there was a mixture of three-seat, two-seat and single-seat constituencies depending on population size. Onchan had three MHKs, while Garff had just one.

It means Onchan is the only local authority area to be split in this way. The Howstrake area remains part of the Onchan local authority district and is served by Onchan Commissioners, despite being within Garff for House of Keys elections.

Geographically, the Garff constituency stretches from the Ramsey border to Howstrake in Onchan.

It means residents living in Lakeside and Howstrake may receive election leaflets discussing issues affecting places such as Laxey and Maughold, despite living in Onchan.

Adding to the confusion, a handful of Onchan residents also find themselves within the Douglas North constituency.

From 1986 until 2016, the whole of Onchan formed its own House of Keys constituency, while before 1986 it was part of Middle.

Outgoing Onchan MHK and current candidate Rob Callister has previously raised concerns about the arrangement, describing the change as a ‘tick box’ exercise to make constituency numbers add up.

Speaking in Tynwald in 2024 during a debate on the Electoral Commission Review of Constituency Boundaries, he said: ‘Unfortunately, this resulted in the Parish of Onchan, along with part of Whitebridge Road, Harbour Road, Lakeside, and Groudle being placed into a larger Constituency of Garff, along with a handful of Onchan residents being placed in Douglas North.

‘These changes also meant that Onchan now has two very different election boundaries for its community, one for the Local Authority Elections that involved all eligible voters within the wider constituency of Onchan, and a smaller Constituency boundary for the House of Keys General Election, which involves around 6,624 Residents of Onchan.’

However, the Electoral Commission report published in January 2024 did not result in any change for Onchan, meaning the boundaries remain in place for this year’s election.

The changes that were made involved adjustments to the boundaries of Glenfaba and Peel and Middle, as well as Ramsey and Ayre and Michael following population growth in the Peel and Ramsey areas.