Two more nominations have been announced for the Legislative Council.

Author and former teacher Paul Craine has been nominated, having been put forward by Douglas Central MHK Chris Thomas.

Mr Craine wrote The Manx Population Atlas and previously stood for the House of Keys in 2016, but was unsuccessful.

He said of the nomination: ’I suppose it’s mixed views - there’s one part of me that’s absolutely delighted and there’s another part that recognises that it’s a real challenge and there will be many responsibilities in being a member of Legislative Council but I’m up for those. I believe I can play a positive and distinctive role.’

Interested in geography and statistics, Mr Craine felt these skills would aid him greatly in his nomination.

He continued: ’I’m interested in data and the way that data relates to people.

’For example, in my work on population, fundamentally it’s about people, not about numbers.

’I’m aware this helps with my attention to detail and I think in one of the roles on the Legislative Council is that scrutiny of the work of government and scrutiny of legislation and being able to explore numbers and make sense of them and then use that evidence to apply to what’s actually happening and whether policies are actually succeeding on the ground.

’I think I’d be a great help to be able to handle the numbers side of things.’

Mr Craine felt his previous experience in standing for the House of Keys would also help.

’The experience of visiting in the region of 3,000 households, appealing to the views of people - I’m sure that would put me in a much better position than if I hadn’t been through that process,’ he said.

Meanwhile, another nomination has come in for Corelli Bentham. Nominated by newly elected Minister for Enterprise Dr Alex Allinson, Mrs Bentham is a former chartered quantity surveyor and lecturer at University College Isle of Man.

She is now director at BuildASkill Ltd which is a local company that looks after national vocational qualifications (NVQs) for the island’s construction industry.

The pair join former Middle MHK Bill Shimmins in announcing their attention to stand.

Nominations have to be in by November 4 in time for the election on November 23.