Cannan and Moorhouse explain spoiled ballots in Chief Minister election

Two MHKs have explained why they deliberately spoiled their ballots in Tuesday’s House of Keys vote that chose Chris Thomas as the island’s new Chief Minister.

Former Chief Minister Alfred Cannan, the Ayre and Michael MHK, voted against both Mr Thomas and Kirrie Jenkins. Jason Moorhouse, MHK for Arbory, Castletown and Malew, voted for both. Both ballots were ruled invalid, according to Isle of Man Today.

Each member votes yes or no to every candidate. Backing both or rejecting both counts as a spoiled ballot.

Mr Cannan told Isle of Man Today he had wanted newly elected members to reach their own view without being swayed by him.

“It was important that the new members made up their minds as to what they wanted without my influence,” he said.

He added: “Had my vote tipped the balance in favour of Chris Thomas, it would not have given him the mandate that he was seeking.” He said he was pleased Mr Thomas had won with a comfortable majority and broad support from both new and longer-serving MHKs.

In a statement, Mr Moorhouse said he was divided between the two candidates and believed both could move the island forward. Constituents had asked him online to explain his vote, Isle of Man Today reported.

He described Mrs Jenkins, his constituency colleague, as having “fought a hard campaign and offered a new way of doing things”. He said he had worked alongside Mr Thomas over the past decade and called him “an intelligent man with a great work ethic and desire to get things done”.

Mr Moorhouse said he had scored the candidates’ answers at the hustings. “I graded each answer and whilst Mr Thomas was clearly my favourite there, I was still divided,” he said.

He said he had known a yes vote for both would produce a null result. He noted that with Mr Thomas on 16 votes and Mrs Jenkins on six, backing either would not have changed the outcome.

The result as first published included Mr Moorhouse’s two yes votes, giving 17 for Mr Thomas and seven for Mrs Jenkins. Tynwald Clerk Jonathan King told Isle of Man Today that, once the invalid ballots were discounted, the system had arrived at the right outcome.

“We are working to display the results of the ballot in a consistent manner,” Mr King said.

The final valid count was 16 for Mr Thomas and six for Mrs Jenkins. In the confirmation vote that followed, every MHK backed Mr Thomas except Mrs Jenkins and Stephen Broad.

Attention now moves to the Council of Ministers, made up of the Chief Minister and up to nine other ministers. Mr Thomas has said he intends to name his ministers without delay as he begins delivering on his promise of a “smaller, smarter and smoother government”.