It ought, as one member said, to have been an absolute ’no brainer.’

In an open democracy it is surely obvious that those who want to lead the nation should reveal themselves to the electorate.

Not in the Isle of Man, apparently.

Here the October Tynwald endorsed the bizarre process whereby contenders to be Chief Minister only step forward after a general election, (to be chosen by the new House of Keys).

It threw out a motion from Garff MHK Daphne Caine calling for prospective candidates to declare before polling so that voters can take this rather important information into account.

There was surprisingly little debate on the proposal but the outcome was conclusive, it being defeated 17-6 in the House of Keys and 7-1 in the Legislative Council. For the record those in favour were: Caine, Christian, Hooper, Perkins, Watterson, Thomas and Mercer.

With most members staying silent on the issue, one was left wondering why so many were opposed to a requirement that would make Manx politics more transparent and accountable.

Is there a valid argument for defending the status quo?

Or do our politicians prefer to keep voters in the dark just to make life easier for themselves?

It all depends on whether contestants for the top job really are lined up, behind the scenes, prior to a general election.

If the answer is yes, they are, then the current process conceals essential information from the electorate that it has a right to know.

You should know if your Keys candidate intends to stand for Chief Minister, because that is a relevant fact about them that could affect the way you vote.

And we are all entitled to know who our prospective MHKs will put in charge of the Isle of Man if they get into the House.

That is the biggest, and earliest, decision they will be taking on our behalf, setting the government’s direction of travel for the next five years.

The candidate’s preference for national leader is a significant point, one that we should be able to take into account in deciding whether we will vote for them.

But the potential heads of government remain hidden from view until it is too late for us to feed into the process. So we can question Keys candidates on local parking problems, but not on the small matter of who they will install to run the country.

This absurd charade does not look much like democracy.

The procedure makes more sense, however, if there is actually no such thing as a prospective candidate for Chief Minister in the pre-election period. If no-one has made up their mind at that stage, and there is no furtive recruitment of supporters.

In this scenario the candidates are suddenly and miraculously created as soon as the polls have closed. No contenders are in place any earlier, so no crucial information has been withheld from the electorate prior to voting.

Given the nature of politics such a discrete sequence of events seems implausible, and indeed this line of argument was not advanced in Tynwald.

Following the last House of Keys general election in 2016 the three candidates for Chief Minister were announced to the public on September 27, just five days after the election.

They published their manifestos two days later, and by October 4 the island had a new leader.

The short timescale suggests that preparations were underway before polling day, out of sight of the electorate.

Of course there is nothing to stop a Keys candidate from admitting during an election campaign that they have their eye on the Chief Minister’s chair. That is what John Shimmin did in 2006, and his experience has not encouraged others to follow his example.

Mr Shimmin was re-elected in West Douglas but unsuccessful when he duly stood for Chief Minister. For his early confession of ambition he was attacked by members of the Manx crab community, who saw arrogance rather than honesty in his approach.

It has since become accepted wisdom in the corridors of power that openness in this context will be taken as presumption, and is best avoided.

No-one can become a formal candidate for Chief Minister unless they are first elected to the House of Keys, and politicians cannot afford to take constituency support for granted.

The bottom line is that the business of being elected as an MHK is much simpler if you do not alienate potential voters by telling them you want to be captain of the ship. Likewise other Keys candidates can hope to have broader appeal if they are not pinned down to backing a particular chief ministerial contender.

In the circumstances it is unrealistic to expect any individual to put their head above the parapet prior to an election, without a general recognition that this is the right and honourable thing to do.

At its October sitting Tynwald had the opportunity to establish just such a convention, but declined.

In doing so members protected a process that is convenient for politicians but short-changes the electorate. They confirmed that the choice of Chief Minister is a private matter for MHKs, and nothing to do with the Great Manx Public.