Isle of Man election: Increase in female MHKs 'a fantastic shift'

The House of Keys has a record number of female MHKs for the second election in a row

The record number of women voted into the Isle of Man's House of Keys could give Manx politics a new lease of life, a politics expert has said.

Ten women were elected across eight constituencies on Thursday, including two in Douglas which now have all-female representation.

The number is double that of the 2016 election, which was a record itself.

Research professor in Manx politics Peter Edge said it was "a fantastic shift".

He said he was "anticipating an improvement in the number of female MHKs [but] wasn't anticipating this good an improvement."

Prof Edge also said the election's "female candidates had a notably stronger performance than men standing".

"Less than 25% of the candidates were women, they then turned that into 42% elected MHKs," he said.

He added that despite there being no women in the Council of Ministers during the last administration, he would be "astonished" if the same thing happened again.

Newcomer Kate Lord-Brennan, who will represent Glenfaba and Peel, said she was "excited" and the island had "a chance for a fresh direction", while Joney Faragher, who topped the polls in Douglas East, said the results had turned the political landscape of the island on its head.

"The Isle of Man has gone from being somewhere that's had very minimal gender representation of females in our parliament to being the best in terms of equality for gender representation in the British Isles," she said.

Ms Lord-Brennan, a former member of the Legislative Council, added that it would also change the way things were done in government.

"I think if you've got a more diverse range of views, it will impact absolutely everything [and] it will change the tone," she said.