Isle of Man House of Keys Elections 2011

[Patine 468]

I have quite a hefty queue of scenarios at the minute, but thought if someone might like to try this, it could be neat. If no one's picked it up after a while, I may eventually try my hand at it. There's only 24 seats and, at most, 15 regions. Political parties include:

Liberal Vannin Party

Manx Labour Party

Alliance for Progressive Government

Positive Action Group

Mec Vannin

Manx Independence Movement

Independents

Just an idea to consider.

[Patine 468]

Anyone at all interested in this one?

[Manic 0]

Most of the MHK's are Independents: Link. As you can see, political parties have limited success. Would you be planning on using some creative license, making political parties/groups stronger?

[Treasurer 28]

Maybe try splitting up the independents into left and right wing elements. There is ample information about the present candidates from here: http://www.iomelections.com/2006/

[Waffen Thin Mint 0]

The Isle Of Man's House Of Keys is mostly made of 'Independents' - however that in itself has always been a touch suspect, many being local Masonic Lodge Chamber Of Commerce, Farmer's Union or Mec Vannin candidates in all but name.

That changed in the last decade with the Alliance for Progressive Government and the Positive Action Group - whipless political parties in all but name openly campaigning as a bloc group.

However, even with that said, administrations are still very much made 'cross party' out of pragmatics. The place is too small and the stakes too high (as a prominent offshore tax haven) for entrenched party politics.

The only active parties as such are the Manx Labour Party and Liberal Vannin - which has nothing to do with the Liberal Democrats (despite plagerising their logo - badly) or even the Liberal Party in the UK, although they are affiliated to the Liberal International. For example, the current speaker of the House of Keys, Steve Rodan, was a Liberal candidate on the mainland in the 1970s but has nothing to do with Liberal Vannin. They were initially a split from Manx Labour for identifying too strongly with its mainland counterpart, and got themselves into bother two years ago when it was discovered some members had direct links to the UK Independence Party.

Liberal Vannin in fact operate in the same manner as the pressure groups do - ie. members are free to 'agree to disagree' with the party line without censure.

Mec Vannin are more a pressure group - their forays into elections being disasters. However the current Treasury Minister (equivalent of the Chancellor of the Exchequor), and the Minister For Agriculture & Fisheries are both ex-Mec Vannin members (so they say!). A lot of people hidebound refuse to vote for parties, and so

The British National Party made complete fools of themselves when they tried to establish a presence a few years back for no other reason than the fact there was a Celtic Nationalist party - Mec Vannin - in operation there and so like the SNP/Plaid Cymru/Mebyon Kernow needed to be opposed since they oppose the breakup of the UK.

They forgot one important matter - that the Isle Of Man is de facto independent of Britain in most matters already, and most saw them instead as being a party threatening IOM self-governance for Westminster rule. About the only people who would support them would be 'incomers' from the mainland, which considering the BNP's opposition to immigration into the UK would have set them up nicely for ridicule by the press - 'no to immigration into the UK, yes to more immigrant tax-dodgers on the Isle Of Man!'

Surprisingly, there is no Green Party active on the Isle of Man, despite the environment being such a 'hot potato' there. There was once a Manx National Party (Conservatives) and a Manx Communist Party, both long died out.

The Official Monster Raving Loony Party once threatened a candidate - Silly Lord Sargon - but I'm not sure if anything came of it.

[Patine 468]

The Isle Of Man's House Of Keys is mostly made of 'Independents' - however that in itself has always been a touch suspect, many being local Masonic Lodge Chamber Of Commerce, Farmer's Union or Mec Vannin candidates in all but name.

That changed in the last decade with the Alliance for Progressive Government and the Positive Action Group - whipless political parties in all but name openly campaigning as a bloc group.

However, even with that said, administrations are still very much made 'cross party' out of pragmatics. The place is too small and the stakes too high (as a prominent offshore tax haven) for entrenched party politics.

The only active parties as such are the Manx Labour Party and Liberal Vannin - which has nothing to do with the Liberal Democrats (despite plagerising their logo - badly) or even the Liberal Party in the UK, although they are affiliated to the Liberal International. For example, the current speaker of the House of Keys, Steve Rodan, was a Liberal candidate on the mainland in the 1970s but has nothing to do with Liberal Vannin. They were initially a split from Manx Labour for identifying too strongly with its mainland counterpart, and got themselves into bother two years ago when it was discovered some members had direct links to the UK Independence Party.

Liberal Vannin in fact operate in the same manner as the pressure groups do - ie. members are free to 'agree to disagree' with the party line without censure.

Mec Vannin are more a pressure group - their forays into elections being disasters. However the current Treasury Minister (equivalent of the Chancellor of the Exchequor), and the Minister For Agriculture & Fisheries are both ex-Mec Vannin members (so they say!). A lot of people hidebound refuse to vote for parties, and so

The British National Party made complete fools of themselves when they tried to establish a presence a few years back for no other reason than the fact there was a Celtic Nationalist party - Mec Vannin - in operation there and so like the SNP/Plaid Cymru/Mebyon Kernow needed to be opposed since they oppose the breakup of the UK.

They forgot one important matter - that the Isle Of Man is de facto independent of Britain in most matters already, and most saw them instead as being a party threatening IOM self-governance for Westminster rule. About the only people who would support them would be 'incomers' from the mainland, which considering the BNP's opposition to immigration into the UK would have set them up nicely for ridicule by the press - 'no to immigration into the UK, yes to more immigrant tax-dodgers on the Isle Of Man!'

Surprisingly, there is no Green Party active on the Isle of Man, despite the environment being such a 'hot potato' there. There was once a Manx National Party (Conservatives) and a Manx Communist Party, both long died out.

The Official Monster Raving Loony Party once threatened a candidate - Silly Lord Sargon - but I'm not sure if anything came of it.

Perhaps it could be done as having the official parties, then those independents strongly influenced by one of the political pressure groups as essentially functioning as 'candidates' for that group, with the group working as a 'party,' at least effectively, then dividing the rest of the 'pure' independents into general blocs like right and left or so. Thoughts?

[Patine 468]

I would like to give a shot at this one, but I need to clean out my queue a bit. Consider it a high priority future project after at least Alberta 1921 (only endorsers and events left), Hutali 2010 (only ridings, regional issue centres, endorsers, and events left), South Guanjin 2009 (only ridings, regional issue centres, endorsers, and events left), Wales 2015 (much to do yet), Japan 2009 (much to do yet), Uganda 2011 (hasn't officially started), United States 1824 (only events left), United States 1860 (only endorsers and events and to fix an error), United States 1789 (only endorsers and events and to fix an error), United States 1996 (only a balancing issue to resolve), and United States Senate 2006 (much to do yet). Come to think of it, we might not see the Isle of Man 2011 for a while yet. There will likely be more info out on the actual election by the time I start.

[Manic 0]

Perhaps it could be done as having the official parties, then those independents strongly influenced by one of the political pressure groups as essentially functioning as 'candidates' for that group, with the group working as a 'party,' at least effectively, then dividing the rest of the 'pure' independents into general blocs like right and left or so. Thoughts?

Another option might be to do single seat constituencies or By-Elections. There was a By-Election for the Douglas East consituency yesterday.

[Manic 0]

The date for the election has been set.

[Patine 468]

The date for the election has been set.

I would very much like to do this one sometime this year, but I'd need a good map, preferrably one divided into the 15 electoral districts. Any takers?

[Patine 468]

Thanks to Display Name, I now have an incomplete Isle of Man 2006 scenario, complete with a map, I can use as a foundation for an Isle of Man 2011 scenario.

[Manic 0]

Are you making any progress with this scenario, or is it on the back-burner? (I looked at your scenario queue and noticed that it wasn't listed).

[Patine 468]

Are you making any progress with this scenario, or is it on the back-burner? (I looked at your scenario queue and noticed that it wasn't listed).

My current project is a Wisconsin State Senate scenario for Congress 4E. After that, this one is a possibility, or probably soon in my reorganized queue of things.