In December, 14 members of the House of Keys voted in favour of the second reading of a Constitution Bill that would remove the Bishop’s Tynwald vote.
Ramsey MHK, Lawrie Hooper has now launched a public consultation, that went live today (January 4), on the matter.
Hooper strongly encourages people to “contribute to this short and straightforward consultation and to share the consultation with any Manx residents they think might be interested”.
Democracy
Members of the House of Keys (MHKs) are elected for five year terms by the Manx public, members of the Legislative Council (MLCs) are also elected for five year terms, by the Members of the Keys.
Hooper’s arguments is that there are two Members of Legislative Council who are not accountable to the Manx Public either directly or indirectly, the Attorney General and the Bishop of Sodor and Man.
Both have the right to speak and contribute to debate – but the Attorney General cannot vote.
The Bishop in Tynwald
The Bishop however, can vote in Tynwald and the Legislative Council.
Hooper says: “They can directly affect policy and law that affects every single person on the Island – and yet they are not accountable to the Manx public whom they have this power over.”
The Bishop of Sodor and Man is appointed by the King, on the advice of the UK Prime Minister.
Hooper says that this means people in the UK have more say over who is appointed to this post than the Manx public:
“Bizarrely this means the people of the UK (or more specifically the membership of whichever Party is in Number 10 at the time) get more of a say over who is appointed to this post in Tynwald than the people of the Island!
Lawrie Hooper MHK
“The Manx public have no method of choosing or replacing the Bishop, other than whatever influence the Church may choose to give from time to time.
“This is fundamentally not a democratic part of our Parliament and one this Private Members Bill seeks to resolve,” Hooper added.
Not to remove seat
The Bill retains the Bishop within Tynwald and makes no attempt to remove his seat.
The Bill is purely to remove the Bishop’s right to vote in Tynwald and the Legislative Council.
It is Hooper’s hope that this “small change will carry on the journey of improving and strengthening democratic accountability on the Island”.
The consultation can be completed online and paper copies can be obtained from the Clerk of Tynwald’s Office for a small printing charge.
The consultation runs for 8 weeks from January 4, 2024 to February 29, 2024.
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