Calls to strengthen women's participation in Isle of Man elections

Observers said there were 10 areas for improvement in Manx elections

Authorities on the Isle of Man need to do more to encourage women to take part in elections, a report has found.

The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) election observation mission has released its final review of the 2021 House of Keys poll.

A total of 10 recommendations were put forward by the team, including improvements to disabled access.

Cabinet Office Minister Kate Lord-Brennan said the issues identified were "actively being looked at".

'Strengthen democracy'

The observers, who were invited by Tynwald to independently assess the contest, found the election met international standards but said it needed to be more "consistent" and "accessible".

The recommendations include "strengthening" the participation of women to build on the record number elected in September.

The review found more could be done to encourage women to stand for office as they made up only 25% of the 65 candidates that stood.

It also noted "worrying reports" of female candidates having posters "defaced or destroyed" and being attacked on social media.

Access was "difficult" for those with disabilities and mobility issues at half of the island's polling stations, due to the lack of readily available ramps and the positioning of booths, the report added.

Changes to the recruitment and training of polling staff, regular boundary reviews and attempts to encourage under-represented groups to register to vote were also identified as potential improvements.

The observers went to 44 of the 56 polling stations across all the island's 12 constituencies

Head of the CPA team, Stewart Dickson, said he hoped the island would "carefully consider our recommendations to further strengthen its democracy".

Ms Lord-Brennan said, while it was a largely "positive report", the Crown and Elections Team were "actively open to feedback" from those involved in the contest.

Those comments would feed into the work of an electoral commission which is due to be set up next year, she added.