Alistair Ramsay column: A beginner's guide to Isle of Man elections

In the first part of our new series ahead of the general election, political commentator Alistair Ramsay takes a closer look at the Isle of Man’s unique democratic system – from Tynwald’s ancient roots to why elections here work very differently from those across the water.

With the island's next general election only a couple of months away, some of us may be struggling to remember how Manx politics works, if we ever understood it in the first place.

So here's my take on a democratic system that is both ancient and adolescent, and as odd as a Loaghtan sheep.

To start with the big picture, the constitutional status of the Isle of Man is that of a British Crown Dependency.

It is therefore British but not part of the United Kingdom, though the UK Government is responsible for its international relations, defence and good governance.

(The island was taken over by the Crown in 1765, after centuries of rule by feudal lords, to put a stop to the smuggling trade.)

The Isle of Man has its own government and makes its own laws through its parliament, Tynwald, founded by Viking settlers more than one thousand years ago.

The institution is believed to be the oldest continuous parliament in the world.

Actual democracy, though, is much younger and arguably has yet to mature into full national politics.

The right to vote was not extended to all adults until 1919, and up to the 1960s the island was under colonial control with executive power in the hands of the Lieutenant Governor.

We still do not get to choose our government, but more of that anon.

The primary chamber of Tynwald is the House of Keys, with 24 MHKs (Members of the House of Keys) elected by the public, two from each of the twelve constituencies.

There is a second chamber appointed by the Keys, the Legislative Council.

It has nine members, MLCs, whose principal role is scrutiny and revision.

I do not buy the argument that there are too many members of Tynwald.

Reducing the numbers would have very little impact on government's overall annual spending of around £1.5 billion (yes, that much), and it would make the parliament even less effective in holding the executive to account.

There are, however, far too many local authorities.

General elections to the House of Keys happen every five years and the next one is on Thursday, September 24.

Candidate nominations close on August 26.

Welcome to Manx micro-politics.

The average number of registered voters per MHK is around 2,700, against an equivalent figure in the UK of 73,000 voters per MP.

On that basis, each voter here has 27 times more political influence than their counterpart across the water.

Their relative power is even greater if you consider that there are only 24 MHKs compared to 650 MPs.

It’s no surprise that Manx politicians are highly reactive to individual and localised concerns.

In the Isle of Man, they say, one person can be a pressure group.

Election races are won on a first-past-the-post basis and can be decided by single-figure margins.

So every vote really does count.

With 65,000 registered voters at the last general election, the island would be represented by one MP if we were part of the UK.

Political parties exist in the Isle of Man but have never dominated the system.

The vast majority of candidates and members are independent.

Personality has always been more potent than policy in small communities where voters often know, or know of, the candidates.

As many new residents have found, if you don't have this personal knowledge of the candidates, it can be a challenge to tell the difference between them.

Given the size of the constituencies, and the absence of a party system, the focus of debate has traditionally been more on local considerations than on national policy priorities.

By national, I mean relating to the whole of the Isle of Man, as a nation, rather than to the local constituencies.

Unlike the UK process, the function of Manx elections is not to pass judgment on the previous government and choose the next one.

It is purely to install 24 local constituency representatives in the parliament.

There is no party framework to translate the parliamentary outcome into authority to govern (parliament and government being different things, of course).

Without reference to the public, the new House seals the island's fate for the following five years by selecting the next Chief Minister, who is then free to pick his or her Council of Ministers, the Manx 'Cabinet' at the heart of the executive government.

The way that a new government magically emerges after an election has been compared to someone showing up on a blind date.

Because general elections here are not about who should be leading the country, and in what direction, the Council of Ministers has no mandate from the people.

Nor, at the end of five years, is it held collectively responsible for its performance.

When politicians are elected and re-elected on a largely local basis, there is less pressure on them to develop a national agenda and less incentive to deliver at that level.

So in the Isle of Man, the government is neither mandated by the public nor accountable to it.

This disconnect between government and the people is a major flaw in our democratic structure.

The Ministerial system was introduced in the mid-1980s, after a period of economic crisis, to give the government more coherence and direction.

With the challenges now facing the island, I believe it is time to further strengthen the system by creating a framework for proper national politics.

One option would be public election of the Chief Minister.

Another would be an all-island vote for the Legislative Council membership, from which the Chief Minister and senior ministers could be appointed.

None of the peculiarities of Manx politics are an excuse for not bothering to vote in the general election.

The system may be quaint, but it still gives MHKs real responsibility and power over our lives.

We will pay the price if we sit back and allow the wrong people to get in.

To find out more about the upcoming election and how to vote, go online to elections.gov.im.