The shackles are off. We can say a little bit more of what we want. So here are the Election Diary Awards.
Best social media post
This goes to Devon Watson for emphasising that size isn’t everything. Although not everyone in his party agreed.
If you’re struggling to understand Devon’s point, that tiny blob of yellow on the lamppost is his poster. If you’re struggling to see his Manx Labour Party colleague’s poster, you probably need an optician.
Best social media comment
This came in response to our own earnest plea to make people understand their vote counts. I’ve kept the poster’s name out of the screengrab in case they get told off for having such a potty mouth.
Fortunately, everyone at Manx.News has a potty mouth, so we found it very entertaining.
Best feud
They will say it wasn’t a feud, but George Hargreaves and Chris Thomas spent all of their hustings meetings and probably a lot of the rest of the time winding each other up.
Chris, as we know, is never afraid to correct people he disagrees with who have got something wrong.
George, as we have learned, quite likes sailing close to the wind and being a little provocative challenging of others.
It was a match made in heaven. Or hell, if you attended all the meetings.
Biggest let down
Change.
Let’s be honest, there was a lot of hype, but really we didn’t get much more than small change, in the end.
A lot of policies appeared to be that the candidate didn’t know that much about an issue but would definitely do something about it if they got in.
So that’s alright then.
Best Alf anecdote
This goes to Alf Caine, even though the anecdote belongs to our boss Juan Turner, technically
Juan does an excellent accent in his impersonation of Alf, but he shafted me on the provision of election night bourbon biscuits, so he’s getting nothing.
In a nutshell Alf – who regardless of what happens tonight is arguably the best Alf in Manx political history – turned up for one of our fancy election time broadcasts and bemoaned the noise coming from a digger nearby. Juan, as dynamic as he is, seemed at a loss to fix this.
Alf assured him, “Leave it with me.” Then he disappeared. Minutes later, the noise had stopped. Asked how he achieved this, Alf gave a fruity response. Apparently, he didn’t have to explain who he was to the digger operators. He just got what he wanted.
Regardless of whether he gets in tonight, we probably need this Alf in politics. So, if he doesn’t succeed at the ballot box, someone should elect appoint him to the Legislative Council.
Split personality award
This goes to Nigel Dunmore, who seemed to think it was a good idea to stand in two different constituencies.
Yeah. Nah.
Candidate you’re most likely to trust/least likely to cross
Mary Phillips. A lollipop lady and a dinner lady.
I mean, you trust them, but you wouldn’t jump the queue if they were watching, would you?
AC/DC award for big balls
The Garff candidates who dared to give opinions on wind farms.
Best straight face
That goes to our Vote 2026 Question Time host Richard Slee.
Twelve shows, more than 70 candidates turning up. How did he manage it?
The Manx.News political reporters doff their caps at his ability not to scream at any point. Mind you, there’s still tonight’s election live stream. We may see him crack.