Who Will Be The New Chief Minister?

[Declan]

Is that it?

[Chinahand]

When Brown says things like this it just confirms to me he is a turkey who will never vote for Christmas.

 

Our current electoral system is crying out for reform, but we are crowning a candidate who thinks everything is fine.

 

CHIEF minister-elect Tony Brown has defended the system which looks set to see him appointed unopposed.

 

But Mr Brown said: 'The problem is, if you vote for a directly-elected chief minister, that you are then changing the whole process of how you deal with people.

 

'I think the system we have is a very good one,' he said.

 

For me it is clear that there is a need to review and reform "the whole process of how you deal with the people." From the Commissioners, to the Keys, to the Tynwald to the Legislative Council.

 

Oh well ... 'King Tony Brown disagrees.

[Declan]

I kind of agree with him. I don't think a directly elected CM is the way forward, although it would be better than the current system.

 

The problem is that the CM has to lead a Government drawn from the Keys and must have a majority support there. What would happen if PK won, how could he form a Govt from the rest of Tynwald? In the absence of party politics (which would probably take a generation to introduce - you can't force sitting independents into a party, and many will continue to be elected as independents), Tynwald needs to make the decision.

 

However, there are two possible improvements.

 

1. CM candidates declare before the election and produce a policy statement on that basis, candidates for MHK will then be put on the spot to sign up for the CM they want. In effect you'd end up with ad hoc parties so voters could choose the way forward but the MHK's would not be bound by the party whip.

 

2. Directly elect MLC's on an STV basis, across the whole Island. CM has to be an MLC, chosen by Tynwald - that way he has a whole Island mandate, local representation is through the Keys, and he is able to form a Government that supports him.

[Albert Tatlock]

When Brown says things like this it just confirms to me he is a turkey who will never vote for Christmas.

 

Our current electoral system is crying out for reform, but we are crowning a candidate who thinks everything is fine.

 

CHIEF minister-elect Tony Brown has defended the system which looks set to see him appointed unopposed.

[Topaz]

Well, Funnily enough Albert, I have just walked past Tony Brown Electrics.There is a TV set in the window, pointing out into the street, and a Video/DVD player with it !

 

I'm not joking either

[rallybug]

The choice then becomes, do I vote for the stated party policies, or for the person? They may coincide, but they may not. Irrespective of the decision, it is the person who is elected.

The general idea is to vote for the party. It really isnt a novel or radical idea.

 

When I still lived in the UK, my local MP was Paddy Ashdown - I voted for him based on his achievements for the community etc - I certainly didn't vote for the Lib Dems (or whatever they were called that week) as a party, just him and he happened to be in the Lib Dems.

[Declan]

But you also knew the policies he would advocate in the house, had they been the opposite of what you wanted, would being a good man and a good local MP have made a difference?

 

The trouble here is we vote for the man but then hope they'll choose a CM who'll evoke policys we agree with.

[localyokel]

I stopped posting pre-election as the whole thing started to piss me off, but here we go -

 

We can suggest what we like but lets face it, it ain't going to happen because at the moment they have a system they can largely control. It is not democratic at all. I have nothing against Mr Brown and out of those available he's probably a good choice. But lets not forget he nearly got back in unopposed and if he had we would have had another CM with no public mandate. That should not be a risk in the worlds oldest democracy. Another popular choice mentioned on these boards (who would have been good in my opinion) was Eddie Teare - he got back in unopposed so should he really have a shot at CM as its not a mandate from the people. Your just in by default as nobody else stood.

 

For this reason I don't actually see what is wrong with a Presidential-style election, at least us as voters get to vote for a person we want to represent us internationally and people (like John Shimmin did) could make being CM an election issue which is infinitely more healthy.

 

If Legco were elected by vote you could pick from either house too, which might be interesting.

[LoneWolf]

The choice then becomes, do I vote for the stated party policies, or for the person? They may coincide, but they may not. Irrespective of the decision, it is the person who is elected.

The general idea is to vote for the party. It really isnt a novel or radical idea.

 

When I still lived in the UK, my local MP was Paddy Ashdown - I voted for him based on his achievements for the community etc - I certainly didn't vote for the Lib Dems (or whatever they were called that week) as a party, just him and he happened to be in the Lib Dems.

 

Sure. I know people who used to vote for Tony Benn but wanted the Tories to win the election [not]

[Lonan3]

A question that someone should have asked Toiletony Brushrown:

 

During last week's attempt to elect a Chief Minister, did you vote for a candidate - or did you spoil your paper?

[WilDDog]

During last week's attempt to elect a Chief Minister, did you vote for a candidate - or did you spoil your paper?

 

I don't think he would have answered but what a great question.