What do Londoners associate with the Isle of Man?

Delegates to last month’s Government Conference were given a snapshot of impressions from a cross-section of those living in the Big Smoke.

And some of them are rather surprising - if not a little insulting.

A word wall presented during a roundtable workshop included some obvious candidates - TT races, motorbikes, 3-legs, Manx cats, low tax, oldest parliament.

The island’s scenery, tradition, wildlife, peace and quiet were given a credit.

Some descriptions were a little disparaging - unappealing, insular, parochial, weird flag, dull, bland, cold and wet.

Some betrayed a basic lack of general knowledge - Hell’s Angels, Wales.

And one word stood out as just downright rude - smug. Now that’s rich coming from a Londoner.

The word wall was created by HPI consulting and some references gave an indication to just how long ago - the late Apprentice candidate Stuart Baggs gets a mention as does Formula One champion and one-time island resident Nigel Mansell.

These spontaneous impressions of the Isle of Man actually dated back to 2010.

They were presented during a workshop on ‘Enhancing our Island’s proposition and advantages for business and the economy’ led by PR consultant Richard Slee and chairman of the island’s Institute of Directors Steve Billinghurst.

Those taking part in the round table discussion were asked to consider four questions:

What are the five key attributes of the Isle of Man’s soft power (ie the ability to influence others through culture, media and persuasion)? How should we best promote these? What one thing should we do to enhance our island’s competitive advantage? And how do we further differentiate ourselves from the UK and other competitors, including Crown dependencies and Overseas Territories?

The Government Conference was held over two days at the Comis Hotel.

It featured keynotes speeches from Ministers and senior government officers and saw a number of significant policy announcements on immigration and border control, air routes subvention, the Manx Care overspend and a plan to cut public service costs by £10m.

Chief Minister Alfred Cannan said in his welcoming speech to conference attendees: ‘It’s progress or regress’.