Boundary change plan could risk causing voter confusion, says MHK

A bid to redraw the House of Keys political boundaries could "marginalise" some residents and "cause confusion", a Ramsey MHK has said.

Proposals to change the size of some constituencies have been put forward by the Isle of Man Electoral Commission to rebalance the number of people in each.

Hundreds of voters could be moved out of Ramsey under the plans.

Lawrie Hooper said keeping a sense of community was "more important than an arbitrary numerical target".

Options for boundary changes put forward by the commission include moving parts of Ramsey into either of its neighbouring constituencies, Ayre and Michael or Garff, and to move part of Peel and Glenfaba into nearby Middle.

The independent body's proposals have been designed to ensure equal voting power in each area by balancing populations to work towards an "ideal average" of about 6,900 people in each two-set constituency.

Tynwald will be asked to consider the proposals in March next year.

Mr Hooper said the two options to move north or south Ramsey into neighbouring constituencies could divide residents living on the same streets into different political areas.

"Ultimately the proposals would cause confusion and would blur the lines as to which MHK was representing the electorate," he said.

The Ramsey MHK said he did not want to loose the communities around which constituencies are formed and would not support the changes.

Garff MHK Daphne Caine said she was "not sure" balancing voter numbers was more important than community boundaries.

Voters in the Lakeside area of Onchan who were moved into Garff before the 2016 general election had "given very negative feedback", with some refusing to vote as a result, she added.

Ms Caine suggested other options could be considered such as having a "greater percentage differential" between voters in each area, or introducing eight, three-set constituencies.

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