ARE WOMEN GETTING A FAIR DEAL IN MANX POLITICS?

University College Isle of Man (UCM) is involved in a new research project which aims to explore the changing trends in Manx politics and identify any barriers to women becoming involved.

Four academics from the Isle of Man and the UK are embarking on a study of women in Manx politics. Dr Catriona Mackie from UCM and Isle of Man-based researcher Dr Mari Hughes-Edwards who lectures at Edge Hill University along with Prof. Peter Edge and Dr Alex Powell from Oxford Brookes University are working on a Culture Vannin-funded project to explore the role and experiences of women in Tynwald and consider ways of facilitating more women in Manx politics.

In the 2011 elections to the House of Keys, of the sixty-four candidates, only thirteen were women (less than 11%). Twenty-two men and two women were elected. In his review of Tynwald in 2016, Lord Lisvane identified the lack of female representation as a serious concern that ought to be addressed “with energy” by both Tynwald and Island society more generally. In that September’s election, however, just over 20% of candidates were female and five women were elected to the House of Keys – a record number.

There was a significant shift in the number of women represented in the Legislative Council between 2015 and 2018. All candidates in the 2015 appointments process were men. By 2018, however, nine out of the fifteen candidates were women – 60%. All five appointments were women.  A similar, but less pronounced, change can be seen in the 2021 General Election to the House of Keys, with ten women MHKs elected - as many sitting at one time as were elected in the entire period from 1919 to the General Election of 1976, and twice as many as in the 2016 General Election.

Dr Mackie, Programme Leader for History & Heritage at UCM, commented: “The association between women and politics has been important to our Island for a long time, after all we were the first country where women got the vote, and the latest trends shows that the appetite for women to be involved in leading the nation is strengthening.

“We’re excited to be involved in these high level research projects; highlighting our status as a University Centre.”

Through a series of interviews with women who stood for election and those who considered standing, the team will explore the influences on women making the decision to stand and the experiences of women during the campaign process and as members of Tynwald.

Three of the project team will be giving a talk about the project on Thursday 3rd March as part of the University of the Highlands and Islands webinar series, Islands Matter.

Visit https://www.uhi.ac.uk/en/research-enterprise/cultural/institute-for-northern-studies/events/islands-matter-6-women-in-manx-politics-small-island-democracy.html for more information.