Voters in the Douglas West constituency will go to the polls tomorrow (Thursday) to elect a new member of the House of Keys.
Four candidates will be contesting the seat which was made vacant after Geoff Corkish was elected to the Legislative Council.
They are international education consultant Clive Dawson, social worker and former Rushen MHK Quintin Gill and Douglas councillors John Skinner and Chris Thomas.
A fifth candidate, taxi driver Martin Moore, had declared his intention to stand. But in the event, he decided not to pursue his nomination.
Around 120 people packed into All Saints’ Church Hall in Douglas last Wednesday to hear the candidates say why they deserved to be given a vote.
Each gave a public statement about themselves and answered questions from the floor. Ten written questions were posed and then questions came from the audience directly.
Among the issues raised were the Landlords Bill, the MEA debt and gas and electricity bills, the bus dispute and rates.
Semi-retired consultant Mr Dawson, once private secretary to the Lieutenant Governor, of Tennis Road, Douglas, proposes in his manifesto that personal allowance credits are scrapped and work permit legislation revisited in the light of EU expansion. He says more needs to be done to stop welfare being a lifestyle choice.
But his comments that social housing tenants should pay rates as well as rent has prompted a swift rebuke from Douglas Council which points out they already do.
Mr Gill, of Ballanard Road, Douglas, states in his manifesto that he is the most experienced candidate with a proven track record who can ‘hit the ground running’. Government priorities should be ‘earn more, spend less and utilise savings’, he says.
Retired fire officer Mr Skinner, of Berkeley Street, Douglas, calls in his manifesto for more to be done to encourage people to buy and modernise older town house properties. He calls for a cut in red tape to help small businesses start up.
Financial analyst Mr Thomas, of Old Castletown Road, pledges to press for a referendum on parliamentary reform in 2016 and argues that the number of full time politicians is reduced from 33 to 24. He says an independent Auditor General and Ombudsman should be appointed and he suggests the public should be given a stake in a new MEA, refinancing part of its debt with local bonds.
The polling stations are – polling district 1 Garden City, Sea Cadet Hall, Tromode; district 2 Somerset, St Andrew’s church hall, St Ninian’s corner, Glencrutchery Road; district 3 Albany, All Saint’s church hall, Alexander Drive; district 4 Ballabrooie, All Saint’s church hall, Alexander Drive and polling district 5 Eastfield, Trinity Methodist church hall, Rosemount.
Voting takes place from 8am to 8pm.
