Chief Minister hopefuls set out plans to keep young people on the island

Kirrie Jenkins and Chris Thomas, the two MHKs competing to become Chief Minister, were pressed at a hustings with fellow members on how the next government could persuade young people to build careers on the island or return after university, Energy FM reported.

Douglas East MHK Joney Faragher, of the Manx Labour Party, asked both candidates what incentive there was for students to come home after their studies, and how they would help with career opportunities and housing.

The House of Keys, the elected chamber of Tynwald, sits on Tuesday 13 October to choose the new Chief Minister.

Mr Thomas, answering first, said the island needed broader and more varied opportunities than it currently offers. “If the island works for people, provides them with career opportunities and life opportunities, they will be delighted,” he said. “They will stay here and people will start flooding home.”

He said the government should change how it funds people, looking beyond university students to apprenticeships and “treating people who stay here equally to people who go across”.

He added that banks had money available to help people renovate properties and buy first homes, if the right system could be worked out, according to Energy FM.

Jenkins said a lack of opportunities and encouragement for young people to stay had been an “overriding” theme of messages she received during the election campaign. She argued that the economy had not been focused on the right areas, which had led people to leave for work, and said young people needed more career opportunities and pathways to fulfil their ambitions.

She said the island had to adapt to changing working patterns, including growing numbers of “digital nomads”, which made better connectivity vital.

Those who left for their careers should know they could come back to a “safe haven”, she said. She added that it should be easier to raise a family and “move through the housing ladder. Not just first-time buyers, but moving through that ladder.”