New commissioners have been elected in the north and the south of the island following by-elections on Thursday.

Chris Martin was elected to the one vacant seat at Ramsey Commissioners, while Jimmy Cubbon and Karl Drinkwater were elected to the two vacant seats in Port Erin.

In Ramsey, Chris Martin received 278 votes, while John Powell in second got 164 votes and Gillian Corlett was third with 108 votes.

There were 554 ballots cast, which meant a turn-out of 21 percent for the Ramsey South Ward by-election.

Four postal ballots were counted and there were also four ballots which were classed as ‘spoilt’ and weren’t included in the count.

Mr Martin said he was ‘ecstatic’ to be elected as a commissioner and will be ‘listening and learning’ at his first board meeting.

‘It hasn’t sunk in yet,’ he said. ‘It's been a hard campaign, treading about visiting people and finding out what people want from the town.

‘I’m elated, and now I suppose the hard work begins.’

In Port Erin, Jimmy Cubbon topped the poll with 378 votes whilst Karl Drinkwater came in second with 331 votes.

There were 564 ballots cast which gave a turnout of 19.4 percent.

Mr Cubbon, who is a former Castletown Commissioner, previously claimed he will ‘fight’ for the community and believes people can ‘trust’ him to ‘hit the ground running’ if he is elected.

He also added that one of his priorities would be to install a new recreational area for children and that Port Erin is a ‘blank canvas’ for development.

Mr Drinkwater, who ran as an independent, hopes to resolve the campsite problem and bring more people into the village.

‘I decided to stand because I want to make a change - I don’t think there’s enough fresh energy in the community anymore,’ he said.