THE Isle of Man has achieved a notable honour within the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association with the unanimous election of Clare Christian MLC to represent the British Islands and Mediterranean Region (BIMR).

Four BIMR members were nominated for the role - one from the Northern Ireland Assembly, one from the States of Guernsey, one from the States of Jersey and one from Tynwald. Three regional representatives – from the UK, Gibraltar and Cyprus - voted for their preferred candidate, with Mrs Christian receiving the most and maximum number of votes, 12.

The previous representative, Mrs Janet Ryder, stepped down as a Member for the National Assembly of Wales in March. 

As a CPA working party member, Mrs Christian will be contributing to a review of CPA governance structures to ensure the Association maintains exemplary standards of accountability and transparency and to determine its future role and direction as it enters its second century.

A CPA working party was first proposed in 2009 at the BIMR annual general meeting in Guernsey and the decision to set up such a body agreed in September 2010 when the Association’s international executive committee met in Kenya.

In February 2011 the working party assembled in Yukon to continue its examination of CPA activities and its recommendations are to be placed before branch members at the 58th CPA conference, to be held in Sri Lanka in 2012.

Chairman of the Isle of Man branch of the CPA since February 2007, Mrs Christian served as a regional representative from 2005 to 2008. She has also held the post of acting treasurer and is one of the trustees for the Association’s trust funds.

Mrs Christian said, “I am pleased to have been appointed regional representative on the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association’s working party and would like to take this opportunity to thank my predecessor, Janet Ryder, for her commitment to furthering the work of the Association.

“The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association continues to contribute to the advancement of the Commonwealth and, as the Association enters its second century, it is all the more important it remains an effective and relevant voice for parliamentary democracy.

“Against this background the working party is committed to examining the Association’s governance structures to ensure it remains an efficient and vital inter-parliamentary organisation fit for the 21st century.”