Candidates for election to the Legislative Council will be able to fill in an application form for the role, under proposals to be debated by MHKs.

Under the proposed changes candidates won’t have to make contact with any MHK first, although they will still have to seek proposers, seconders and other supporters. The proposals have been drawn up by the Standing Orders Committee of the House of Keys, which decided to review the procedure following the March 2023 elections to the Legislative Council.

Elections to LegCo take place twice in every five years.

Before 2000 the majority of MLCs were former MHKs and were therefore well known to the House of Keys and to the public more generally.

But as more MLCs have come in from outside, efforts have been made to open the procedure up and make it more like a conventional recruitment process.

The Standing Orders Committee says it is now time to go further.

Under the current system, would-be MLCs are advised to seek out an MHK to support their candidacy which has resulted in some MHKs being contacted by numerous individuals, some of whom have little prospect of success.

There is no application form and no screening or shortlisting of any kind.

If the possible candidate is deemed potentially suitable, the MHK then has to garner support for them, generally by introducing them to other MHKs.

‘This results in a series of ad hoc informal meetings which is at best inefficient and at worst chaotic, and which must be as stressful for candidates as it is disruptive for members,’ notes the committee report.

Instead the committee is proposing candidates submit an application form and CV to the secretary of the House without first having to make contact with any MHK.

Provided that their application was valid, they would be invited to a ‘meet and greet’ event at which they would have the opportunity to meet a large number of MHKs in a short time.

After this ‘Applicants’ Conference’ candidates will still have to seek proposers, seconders and other supporters, and MHKs will still have to garner the support of other members.

‘Nevertheless we hope that the Applicants’ Conference will enable a large number of introductions to be made in an efficient manner which should lessen the burden on all concerned,’ the committee report states. The proposals will be debated in the House of Keys on a date yet to be specified.

If agreed by MHKs they would have immediate effect and would be put into practice the next time it is necessary to elect members to LegCo which will be in March 2025 or sooner in the event of a casual vacancy arising.