A call for an island referendum on how members are elected to Legislative Council in the future has been rejected by Tynwald members.
The idea was put forward by Douglas South MHK Bill Malarkey who said it would be a useful tool to gauge public opinion on the matter ahead of any measure to reform the system.
Mr Malarkey’s motion proposed asking the people if they thought Legislative Council members should be selected by general election rather than the current system where they are voted in by existing members of the House of Keys.
The motion also suggested the referendum take place on September 22, at the same time as the general election.
‘We need to find out what the Manx public want. They are the ones who should have the say.
‘It’s time to draw a line under all these different attempts.
‘Legislative Council was always known as the Old Boys’ Club where MHKs were put out to grass after serving their time in Keys, but there are members of the Legislative Council now who have never been to the public,’ he said.
David Cretney MLC seconded the motion but said greater clarity was needed.
‘It’s not as simple as that. We would need to know if it would be two chambers or one, for example, and how many people would be sitting in it.’
The measure received some support from several MHKs but was dismissed as a ‘political gimmick’ by speaker Steve Rodan and Chief Minister Allan Bell said he was ‘astonished’ to see it back on the agenda.
‘With respect, many people probably don’t know what LegCo does so to ask them this, is a nonsense,’ he said.
The motion was defeated by 14 votes to 7 in Keys and by six votes to one in Legislative Council.