Voters in Onchan are to have two official pre-election meetings.

Captain of the Parish of Onchan Peter Kelly said: ’Government has arranged a meeting for each parish and the four towns but Onchan has been divided between the constituency of Onchan and a large area has been put in with Garff in a number equalisation exercise.

’As a result there are two separate meetings to be held.’

He added that some of these parish meetings had already been held but he was disappointed with the lack of press advertising paid for by the Cabinet Office for these meetings.

In the past, meetings were held on the basis of requisition meetings with requests to the captains of the parish who would hold the meetings close to the date of the election so the candidates had time to have their manifestos delivered and to have visited as many households as possible.

Under the new government system meetings started on September 1 and several candidates have not had their manifestos back from the printers yet.

The meetings in Onchan are to be held in schools, as are the majority of the meetings arranged by the Cabinet Office.

The Onchan constituency meeting is being held in the Bemahague School on Wednesday, September 8, and for the Garff Section of Onchan on Tuesday, September 14, at Onchan Primary School.

Both meetings start at 7pm and doors will open at 6.30pm.