With less than a year to go now to the House of Keys General Election in September 2026 thoughts are increasingly turning to how we achieve political change at that election.
A number of political groups, and, at least one aspiring political party have sprung up in recent months. However the most consistent debate is still between those who espouse and value the idea of ‘Independent’ candidates for MHK and those, like myself, who argue that the only effective way of delivering political change is by supporting, standing as, and voting for candidates of political parties at both national and local elections on the Island.
In answering the question ‘Why Liberal Vannin?’, I will therefore address three particular points:
- Why political parties at all?
- Of all the options, what is it that differentiates Liberal Vannin from the rest?
- What is Liberal Vannin hoping to achieve at the general election?
Most of the recently self declared political groups have stressed that they do not set out to be a political party, but that they either have or seek to attract sufficient like minded candidates to form a government at the next election. What is that, if not a political party in all but name? One new party has been announced – Isle of Man First – by a former failed UKIP candidate from Scotland, Mitch Sorbie, but it is unclear if his ‘party’ has any members other than him, or, indeed, whether it has actually been registered as a political party on the Island. All seem to be just flying kites to see if they can generate any interest. I suspect not.
The real problem is, despite the clamour for change in some social media groups, there is considerable apathy / disinterest on the Island for anything to do with achieving political change, and a genuine suspicion of anything to do with party politics. Why is that?
Part of it is semantics. The word ‘independent’ appeals to most of us. We think of movie heroes who stand out from the crowd – the Lone Ranger from my childhood. We’re all urged to “stand on our own two feet, be independent”. But what does that actually mean?
To succeed in life, or in politics, means working with others, being part of a team. To get on and achieve anything, we all need to co-operate with friends, family and work colleagues. Sometimes that is difficult and we’d rather just do stuff ourselves, and let everybody else go hang. But in reality, everybody else doesn’t go hang and we’ve still got to deal with it. Politics is just the same. To achieve anything, MHKs have to co-operate and compromise. The question is, when does that start?
The problem with so-called ‘Independent’ MHKs is that they can’t deliver anything they put in their manifestos, unless they get agreement from at least half of the other MHKs that got elected with them. They all have their own personal agendas which may or may not make any sense. By and large they got voted in because more people recognised their name than the names of the other candidates. Far better if they got together with like minded people before deciding to stand, to toss policy ideas around, come up with agreed solutions and join forces with other candidates so that, if elected, they hit the ground running. That’s what political parties are for.
So what separates Liberal Vannin from the Manx Labour Party, Isle of Man Green Party and the Isle of Man First Party (if it exists)? Liberal Vannin is not ideologically committed to socialism, or anything like it, and is not a one-issue Party. We have a wider perspective than the Greens, although we may agree in principle with their views on climate change and the environment. We are far more pragmatic in our approach and believe that change can only be achieved by showing voters that it can be affordable as well as in their best interests. What differentiates us from most ‘Independent’ candidates is that we do believe that reform is needed in the way the Island is governed, the way government departments are managed, and how public services are delivered. The status quo is not an option for Liberal Vannin!
Liberal Vannin can’t achieve anything at the next election without your / public support. At the last election we fielded four candidates but only one was successful, Lawrie Hooper, MHK for Ramsey. At the recent local authority elections, Gary Chambers was elected to Port Erin Commissioners, Pauline Johns-Garrett was elected as a Ramsey Town Commissioner, and I was elected as a Ballaugh Parish Commissioner. At the general election next year we hope to build on this, but realistically we are unlikely to be in a position to put up enough candidates to form a government. With your help though we can elect enough to influence government thinking and create the conditions for change that many Manx residents are crying out for.
To find out more about what we stand for, please visit our website:
https//www.liberalvannin.im
our Facebook page:
follow us on Twitter / X:
@liberalvannin
Key policies that we will be promoting at the election are:
- Building more social housing and helping more people get subsidised mortgages to buy their own homes.
- Pledging to keep this government’s promise to link the legal minimum wage to the Manx Living Wage
- Ensuring that Manx Care is reviewed and that adequate funding is provided for health and social care
We hope that you will support us to achieve this for the benefit of the Island. Together, we can make a difference.
Paul Weatherall, Chair, Liberal Vannin