Reform of chief minister election process

Allan Bell says a change to the way future chief ministers are elected will hand unelected Legislative Council members the 'king-maker' role.

This month Tynwald agreed to MHKs voting before LegCo members, when the next chief is chosen after September's general election.

In addition, the way each member votes will be made public - at  present it is a secret ballot.

The proposals from West Douglas MHK Chris Thomas are designed to give supremacy to publicly-elected Keys members.

But Mr Bell says the reverse could happen - with LegCo members, able to see how the Keys have voted, having the power to vote tactically and determine the result: