There are now seven nominees for the four Legislative Council seats which are up for grabs at the end of this month.

Robert Mercer, who has lived with his family in Port St Mary for over 21 years, is the latest person to be put forward, having been nominated by Middle MHK Bill Shimmins.

His nomination is seconded by Daphne Caine (Garff) and assented to by Department of Infrastructure Minister Ray Harmer and Clare Barber (Douglas East).

Mr Shimmins said that Mr Mercer is ’well known in the local community as a collaborative and thoughtful individual who has a track record of constructively challenging the best ways of doing things’.

Mr Mercer’s professional background is in IT where he has 33 years’ experience working with egaming, insurance and publicly owned companies both in the island and in his native Merseyside.

In his personal statement, Mr Mercer said: ’A number of MLCs have highlighted the importance of their role as a ’’critical friend’’ and I hope to demonstrate that I can provide such challenge when required and support when needed.’

Three sitting MLCs, Bill Henderson, Kerry Sharpe and Tim Crookall are all seeking reappointment to the council while David Cretney is retiring after over three decades in Tynwald as an MHK and MLC.

The other candidates who have been nominated are Haafizah Hoosen, Peter Greenhill and Dr Michelle Haywood.