Reduced General Election Term Time to 3 Years.

[Last Ten]

Listening and looking at all the threads of late with regards to the issues with our Chief Minister, MHK’s and MLC’s is it not time we looked at a shorter General Election period from the current five year term to a more sustainable maybe three year period?

I just feel of late we the public have very little say mid five year term and if it was shortened we have the ability to get shut of the riff-raff a bit quicker?

Debate!

[Non-Believer]

I can see your point....but it also gives any elected even less time to implement any much needed policies or change. At present, they can't even do that over a 5 year span most of the time.

[A fool and his money.....]

Yes, and reduce their salary too, we need more people of integrity than the half-wit egomaniacs we seem to collect at the moment.

[HiVibes]

1 hour ago, A fool and his money..... said:

the half-wit egomaniacs we seem to collect at the moment.

Half-wit is pretty complimentary. 

 

1 hour ago, Last Ten said:

Listening and looking at all the threads of late with regards to the issues with our Chief Minister, MHK’s and MLC’s is it not time we looked at a shorter General Election period from the current five year term to a more sustainable maybe three year period?

I just feel of late we the public have very little say mid five year term and if it was shortened we have the ability to get shut of the riff-raff a bit quicker?

Debate!

Just make it a remunerated obligation like jury service,  that will remove the block vote of demented old twats for a start.  Immediately you would have real people asking real questions knowing that they have a few years and then its over rather than grasping old twats who have no other way of earning a crust who will say anything to get another 5 years on the teet 

Edited March 2 by HiVibes

[thommo2010]

Would it really matter? Politics is fcuked whether it be isle of man, uk or USA. 

 

Say Isle of Man you get rid of Cannan will anything change? No it won't. People need to start looking after their own affairs and stop looking to government to bail them out. This Island isn't being rescued 

[asitis]

5 hours ago, thommo2010 said:

Would it really matter? Politics is fcuked whether it be isle of man, uk or USA. 

 

Say Isle of Man you get rid of Cannan will anything change? No it won't. People need to start looking after their own affairs and stop looking to government to bail them out. This Island isn't being rescued 

I agree, the only way it will change is if someone grasped the helm and realised that the Civil Service in it's current form, is too expensive and wields too much power over any elected policy makers. Realistically, 85 or even 100 thousand people cannot support administration costs at the levels they currently are ! It is ridiculous that front line services are starved of funds whilst the machine that administers them isn't !

With fees and charges levied for almost everything we do, and the amount of red tape it generates, it's great saying look after your own, but difficult when someone else has their hand in your pocket !

[Ham_N_Eggs]

7 hours ago, Non-Believer said:

I can see your point....but it also gives any elected even less time to implement any much needed policies or change. At present, they can't even do that over a 5 year span most of the time.

Just back up this point, if we look at the last government and what they achieved at the same stage in the same parliamentary year, 2019, they had 10 Acts read on Tynwald Day. It looks like this year we are on 4 and with virtually no legislation going through (there has been nothing for weeks in Keys) it is unlikely to get above 10. This appears to be the most lackadaisical administration we have had for some time. What are they doing?

[CrazyDave]

A new MHK is still learning on the job for at least the first 18 months.

Then for the last 12-18 months or more of their term they are more focused on retaining their seat and not upsetting anyone than actually doing anything useful.

In theory it should be this next 12 to 18 months where they are most productive.

If they were already gearing up for the next election then we might as well not have them at all.

Plus the cost to the taxpayer of running an election, plus the disruption to government departments.  People I speak to who are lucky enough to work there say an election is very disruptive both the run up and the time after.

Who is going to risk giving up their full time job to only have the chance of getting another for three years?  Most people won’t even do it for five.

So in summary, and to answer your question.  No

[CrazyDave]

20 minutes ago, Ham_N_Eggs said:

What are they doing?

In fighting and social media.

We have never had so much information about what they are or aren’t doing.  Is social media and the reporting and discussion of EVERYTHING impacted on how they perform?  I would guess so.

20 years ago we had the manninline and newspapers and people discussed a bit of politics in the pub occasionally.

Now, every single item is discussed in detail by people who don’t really understand the bigger picture for weeks.

If an elected representative says something in a radio interview or even a keys question, it isn’t just reported in a paper and discussed writhing the home then forgotten about.  It’s on here, on IOm news and politics, made into memes, made into “hilarious” videos etc and banged on about for weeks.

 

[Manx Bean]

In answer to the original question..no. 
The reality is that it is the senior civil servants who run the Island, not politicians. Whilst most politicians come into politics with good intentions, many are quickly thwarted by civil servants giving them a raft of spurious reasons why something isn’t a good idea, or they make all the right brown nose noises, but then do everything in their power to move their idea along at a glacial pace.

The only successful politicians are those whose intelligence, determination and whit is greater than the civil servants they are trying to work with to progress their idea..and such a beast is very few and far between.

To be honest, if all MHKs went off sick for 6 months nobody would notice and the wheels would keep turning.

Its my strong opinion that we only need 10 MHKs, paid very well so as to attract really strong candidates.

As for Alf, he does seem to be hanging on by his fingernails..to be honest, who’d want his job. Howard just about got away with it using the “fake it until you make it” mantra and the fact a fair chunk of his tour of duty was in COVID when nothing else mattered anyway saw him through, but Alf seems to be running out of road.

[Non-Believer]

15 minutes ago, CrazyDave said:

In fighting and social media.

We have never had so much information about what they are or aren’t doing.  Is social media and the reporting and discussion of EVERYTHING impacted on how they perform?  I would guess so.

20 years ago we had the manninline and newspapers and people discussed a bit of politics in the pub occasionally.

Now, every single item is discussed in detail by people who don’t really understand the bigger picture for weeks.

If an elected representative says something in a radio interview or even a keys question, it isn’t just reported in a paper and discussed writhing the home then forgotten about.  It’s on here, on IOm news and politics, made into memes, made into “hilarious” videos etc and banged on about for weeks.

 

But that social media point doesn't explain the dearth of legislation moved and passed by this administration in comparison to recent, previous ones, this dearth has been commented on previously here. And comment by the public by whatever media doesn't usually affect what they are moving (look at adverse comment about the Budget and other tax rises for example).

Efforts by this administration have been more about preservation of the status quo IMHO.

[Interested Reader]

5 hours ago, Ham_N_Eggs said:

Just back up this point, if we look at the last government and what they achieved at the same stage in the same parliamentary year, 2019, they had 10 Acts read on Tynwald Day. It looks like this year we are on 4 and with virtually no legislation going through (there has been nothing for weeks in Keys) it is unlikely to get above 10. This appears to be the most lackadaisical administration we have had for some time. What are they doing?

 So what are the MHKs doing in between not passing any legislation? 

Edited March 2 by Interested Reader

[Albert Tatlock]

Keep it to 5 years, 3 years is no time to get into it and get anything changed.

It's the standard of candidate we are electing that are causing the real issues, with all too many just becoming puppets of a failing state controlled by a bloated civil and public service management. 

[Mysteron]

13 hours ago, Non-Believer said:

I can see your point....but it also gives any elected even less time to implement any much needed policies or change. At present, they can't even do that over a 5 year span most of the time.

What incentive do they have to introduce any change within a 5 year term?   None that I can see.  Unless it increases revenue that is, then it tends to be introduced pretty swiftly.  

When elected, they like to bed themselves in for 18 months 'learning the ropes', and for the last 18 months of a current term they are winding down preparing for the next election.  The middle two years of a 5 year term seem to be spent fannying around on personal vanity projects, sweeping things under the carpet or kicking serious issues into the long grass.  Rinse and repeat every 5 years. 

A shorter term might concentrate a few minds, and perhaps ensure that members & departments etc work together more effectively to achieve things.  And in my opinion, that's precisely why the sensible idea will never gain traction. 

 

[CrazyDave]

1 hour ago, Interested Reader said:

 So what are the MHKs doing in between not passing any legislation? 

Dealing with stupid constituency queries from people who don’t know what an MhKs role actually is?

Unfortunately if they tell the dimwits that’s it’s not their responsibility or don’t get back then they get bad mouthed all over social media and lose votes from people who think their MhK should be at their beck and call form when a street light is out, or they can’t get a drs appointment at exactly the time they want