Manx chief minister Tony Brown in election reform pledge

Tony Brown's bill was not passed by the House of Keys

The Isle of Man chief minister believes plans to cap election spending on the island will go ahead despite suffering a setback.

His bill - which would also have banned anonymous political donations - was thrown out by the House of Keys.

However, Tony Brown said he was confident the new measures would become law in due course.

"I think that, after the next general election, it will be part of that consideration," he said.

The matter of fairness within the island's electoral process was first raised during the Douglas East by-election in May 2010.

That led to calls for a reform of the electoral system with a cap on election spending of £2,000 plus 50p per voter in a constituency.

The bill would also have required candidates to declare all donations above £50.

"The Isle of Man political scene is changing," said Mr Brown.

"I think that the Douglas East by-election, what happened there, flagged up an issue and I think rightly government tried to deal with that.

"The House of Keys said no, they didn't want to take that forward at this stage."

Adding: "What we will do, which is what I've indicated we will do, which is tidy everything up to get the whole thing put in place properly."

The Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill had its first reading in the House of Keys on 5 April but failed to get through the committee stage.

The Isle of Man general election is in September with all 24 seats up for re-election.