The Bill and Background
This consultation is in respect of the Private Members Bill titled The Isle of Man Constitution Act 2023.
The purpose of this Bill is to provide that the Lord Bishop shall remain a member of Tynwald and the Legislative Council but shall cease to have voting rights in Tynwald or in the Legislative Council
The Bill will retain the Bishop’s right to speak and his seat in Tynwald. The Bill does not decide whether we should retain the role of the Bishop in Tynwald. The constitution of the Diocese of Sodor and Man is a matter for the Church.
The Bill itself can be found at https://www.tynwald.org.im/spfile?file=/business/bills/Bills/Isle-of-Man-Constitution-Bill-2023.pdf
The consultation process
The Resolution of the House of Keys dated 19/12/2023 that I am obliged to comply with in respect of this consultation states:
That consideration of the Bill be adjourned until the mover has consulted the
public and has submitted to the House a report on the consultation
In accordance with this limited scope this consultation is for the Manx Public only. Responses from outside the Isle of Man will be disregarded. Organisations are encouraged to promote this consultation amongst their members and to encourage their members to submit individual responses in their own right.
As the Bill is very short with a very narrow and very specific purpose this consultation is very short. Aside from being a Manx Resident, which is required in order to comply with the Resolution of the House of Keys, I don’t believe any other demographic factors are relevant and so I am deliberately not collecting this data. I am asking you to include your name as an identifier only, no names will be published and all responses will be treated as anonymous.
There are four (4) questions and all questions are mandatory. Please only complete a single copy of a consultation response, whether that is online or in paper form.
Please feel free to share this survey with any Manx residents you think might be interested
Accessibility
If you know people who wont be able to submit their votes online and would prefer to write in with their response then a paper version of the consultation can be downloaded from this page and shared with them.
Alternatively a paper version of the consultation can be obtained from the Clerk of Tynwald’s Office at the address below. The Clerks office will provide up to 5 copies to an individual for free but any additional copies from the Clerks office will attract a small printing charge.
Paper responses should be submitted to:
Isle of Man Constitution Bill Consultation, Clerk of Tynwald’s Office, Legislative Buildings, Finch Road, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 3PW
For ease and to save on printing paper responses should contain only a properly completed copy of the consultation questions page and no further information.
All responses must be received by the closing date, late responses will not be counted.
The consultation runs for 8 weeks from the 4th January 2024 and closes on the 29th February 2024
Whilst the Bill only deals with the Bishop’s vote in Tynwald and Legislative Council and this is covered by Question 2 it seemed sensible to take this opportunity to ask for views on two connected matters, whether the Bishop should retain his Membership of Tynwald at all and whether Prayers should continue to be read at the start of sittings of Tynwald and the Branches. It is my intention that these matters would not form part of the current Bill, the questions are being asked for potential future use only.
Lawrie Hooper MHK 