Removal of bishop's vote in Tynwald passed by MHKs

Members of the Legislative Council will now examine the private member's bill

Proposals to remove the Bishop of Sodor and Man's right to vote in Tynwald has been passed by the House of Keys.

The Isle of Man Constitution Bill 2023, a private member's bill put forward by Lawrie Hooper MHK, was given its third reading on Tuesday.

Several MHKs spoke out against the proposed law change role but Mr Hooper argued it would make Tynwald "more democratically accountable".

Members of the Legislative Council, of which the Bishop of Sodor and Man automatically holds a seat, will now examine the legislation.

The seat is currently vacant following the retirement of Right Reverend Peter Eagles in October, with the search for his successor still underway.

The results of a consultation carried out earlier this year found public opinion was narrowly in favour of removing the bishop's right to vote.

Independent scrutiny

During a short debate on the proposed legislation, Chris Thomas MHK said he believed there would be "a great number of unhappy people" if the proposed law were to be passed and called on members to "respect the millennia of Manx tradition and history".

Kate Lord-Brennan MHK said the decision to progress the bill "undermined" the position, while Julie Edge MHK described the proposal as "complete disrespect to the role and what it's contributed over time".

Ms Edge said she felt it was "really wrong" to focus on the matter "when there's so many key pieces of social legislation that we need to be pushing forward with".

The plans were approved, after a vote which saw 14 members in favour and nine against.

Mr Hooper said it was now time to "let Legislative Council do the job they’ve been elected to do, which is to independently scrutinise" and decide whether to support the legislation.

If the bill passes through all of its stages in the parliament's upper chamber it will have to receive Royal Assent before becoming law.