ZAC Hall MHK has been suspended from the Liberal Vannin party.
The move comes after he defied his party’s leader, Peter Karran MHK, in a vote on pre-school nurseries in Tynwald last week.
He and Douglas North MHK John Houghton were sacked from the department on Thursday after failing to support Mr Karran, the minister in the Department of Education and Children.
In a statement released on Sunday night, Liberal Vannin party chairman Roy Redmayne said: ‘As chairman of the Liberal Vannin Party I have informed Zac Hall that he has been suspended forthwith from the party.
‘The Chief Minister had no other course of action but to dismiss Mr Hall and Mr Houghton from their positions as political members of the Department of Education as their behaviour on the April 17, 2012 was reprehensible and struck at the very heart of our democracy.
‘They had no respect for the debating chamber or the President by making themselves absent from a debate to which they both had responsibility to contribute. What could they have contributed to that debate? They offered no alternative solution to the nursery education scheme, only criticisms to it and had no plan other than to request more money which they knew was not available.
‘The public of the Isle of Man should be under no illusion. Both MHKs, since taking their positions in the Education Department, have continually undermined Mr Karran’s and the chief executive’s efforts to bring about an affordable and universal nursery school service on the Isle of Man.
‘I take exception to claims made in public that Mr Karran was unable to manage his department, after the debates on the 3rd and 17th April. It is self-evident that his political departmental colleagues were way beyond any management control and this led to them being sacked.
‘The Chief Minister called for unity from our politicians in the face of huge financial losses in revenue which will affect not only us but future generations.
‘The Liberal Vannin Party will continue to support the Chief Minister in finding a solution to our current fiscal difficulties, but question those who elected him to office why they cannot support the difficult decisions which have to be made to ensure future generations’ prosperity.
‘The party has to concede that Mr Hall has not performed to the high ideals that we set ourselves when our party was formed six years ago. Mr Hall led us to believe that he supported the party system and would promote our ideals. As a matter of mandatory procedure he signed his acceptance to the Liberal Vannin constitution and national manifesto and was willing to abandon his career as an airline pilot to represent the people of Onchan and Liberal Vannin
‘I also assure you that Mr Hall will be brought to account for his actions and his failure to adhere to our manifesto.’
The pre-school nurseries issue cost Mr Karran all three of his department’s political members. Dudley Butt MHK resigned over the issue last month.
Mr Houghton and Mr Hall have so far been unavailable for comment.
However, they have released a statement, which is reported in Monday’s Isle of Man Examiner.