It has been a tough couple of weeks for Chief Minister Alfred Cannan.

Last week, Lawrie Hooper announced his shock resignation as Health Minister on the floor of Tynwald which has since sparked a bitter war of words between the two politicians over the state of Manx Care and what service cuts will be needed to make the necessary savings.

Now Arbory, Castletown and Malew MHK Tim Glover has tabled a vote of no confidence which will be debated at the House of Keys next week.

So, what will happen now?

Firstly, this is a non-statutory vote of no confidence which is quite different to a statutory one.

A statutory vote of no confidence would be binding and, if successful, the Chief Minister would have to step down.

Not only that, the whole of the Council of Ministers would have to bow out in a total reset.

However, a non-statutory vote is not binding and, even if it is successful, there is no obligation for the Chief Minster to resign.

The other ministers would not have to step down either.

That said, politically speaking he would be a lame duck - Mr Cannan would have to be rather brazen to withstand the political pressure and loss of a political mandate to continue.

Ministers can also face votes of no confidence in both Tynwald and the Keys but the decision over whether they are to be removed or not lies with the Chief Minister.

Depending on how precarious their position is, even the act of tabling a vote of no confidence could force the Chief Minister to resign.

While Mr Cannan is having a tough time, there is nothing to suggest he is on his last legs.

But is there a viable alternative MHKs can rally behind? The answer at the moment appears to be no.

If this were a statutory vote of no confidence, Mr Glover would need 13 MHKs to back his motion. However, as it is non-statutory, he will just need a simple majority on the day of the Keys sitting.

There are currently seven ministers who you assume would vote against the motion.

Mr Cannan also drafted in David Ashford and Chris Thomas as political members of the Department of Health and Social Care last week which suggests they are behind him.

That leaves little wriggle room for Mr Glover to get the votes needed to for his motion to succeed.

If his motion was successful, the MHKs would then need to vote in a new Chief Minister but Mr Cannan would remain in his role until a new one is appointed.