Nominations have opened for people who want to join the Legislative Council for a five-year term.
Any island resident aged 21 or over who is not paid by the government may serve. At the special sitting of the Keys in March, three of the MLCs whose terms are up will ask for another five years up to February 2025. They are Kerry Sharpe, Bill Henderson, who has been nominated already, and Tim Crookall.
However, from September 29, 2020, for the first time since 1985, David Crentey MLC (pictured) will not be a member of Tynwald. He has decided to retire following 35 years as an MHK or MLC.
It is not yet known who will contest the selection process, where MHKs can vote for as many people as they feel like.
In August last year, the self-styled King of Moraceae announced his bid to gain a seat in Tynwald.
HM Sole the King of Moraceae, aka science fiction author Ian-James Clanton, announced plans to stand on MTTV.
Mr Clanton, who now refers to himself as just HM Sole, also revealed plans to form a new political party.
Mr Clanton said: ’Having a person who is part of the LGBT community, having a person that is under the age of 30, having an individual that is from another country, i.e. American, to sit inside of a chamber that is supposed to be part of the oldest continuous parliament in the world, there to help inform the policy structure of the island is very important with all the challenges happening globally.’
So far, Mr Clanton is the only person to publicly state their desire to be an MLC.
Nominations are open until February 26 and he is not currently listed as a nominee on the Tynwald website.
To be elected as a member of the Legislative Council, residents must first be proposed as a candidate by one of the MHKs.
The Speaker, Juan Watterson, acts as returning officer for the election and has declared that he will not propose, second or assent to a candidate.
However, he does have a vote.