Former MHK David Quirk wants to make a political comeback.

He is to stand for in Onchan Commissioners in a by-election next month.

Mr Quirk became an MHK for the area in 2006 but lost his seat in the 2016 general election.

He had been a commissioner before that.

There is one vacancy for the board of Onchan Commissioners and a by-election will be held there on October 22 if anybody challenges Mr Quirk.

The deadline for candidates to declare they intend to stand is September 24.

Nomination forms are available at the commissioners’ offices.

Two seats also need to be filled on Douglas Council.

They are both for Derby Ward and follow the resignation of Colin Cain last year, and the death of former Mayor, Debbie Pitts, in January.

Voters will head to the polls on Thursday, October 15, if there are more than two candidates.

Boundary changes approved by Tynwald mean the Derby Ward area will cease to exist at the end of this term, which is May 1.

It’s part of wider plans to reduce the size of the local authority, which will see the number of councillors cut from 18 to 12.

Last month, council leader David Christian criticised the decision to hold a by-election for the area, calling it ’ludicrous’ and a ’complete waste of ratepayers’ money’.

Andrew Bentley - currently the sole representative of Derby Ward - said he could manage the constituency himself, before adding any newly-elected councillors would ’only have enough time to find the light switches’.

Candidates are now able to collect nomination papers from Douglas town hall until Monday, September 21.