Tynwald had its first debate of the Lisvane Review last week, on the 20^th of June 2017. It was a long debate, culminating in a long sequence of formal votes and divisions. The end result is that some Lisvane proposals have been left in abeyance, with others to be considered by a Select Committee tasked to report on changes required for their implementation (Part A); or to give further consideration as to their merits (Part B). The Committee will be reporting back on the Legislative Council by October 2017, and other elements by December 2017. Tynwald has now made the first transcript of the debate available through their invaluable Rolling Hansard, and I had five initial thoughts on rereading the debate.

First, constitution making, or extensive revision, is really, really, difficult. It is a common courtesy for legislators to praise the standard of a debate, but having studied Manx legislative debates back some way, I was struck by the quality of this debate. In particular, there was a marked absence of the deference towards UK models sometimes found in Tynwald debates in the past. Approaches drawn from Westminster to common problems are of interest, but first there needs to be an agreement that the problems are common, and even then a Westminster solution is only one of a number that Tynwald might choose to follow. Some commentators have seen the outcome of the debate as a classic way to kill reform: my view is that this was a sensible way to progress reform, but of course we will have to see what comes out of the debates later in the year.

Second, the idea of having a Nominations Commission with a strong role in the appointment to the Legislative Council in future proved very controversial. It appealed neither to supporters of radical reform such as some form of direct election to the Council, nor to more conservative members who would look for a modest refinement of a system which kept the authority in the hands of the (elected) MHKs. The Nominations Commission was put forward to Part B of the remit of the Select Committee, but  failed to secure a majority in either the Keys or the Council, although it did tie in the Keys. Neither did the idea of such a Commission being under a duty to increase diversity in the Legislative Council make it into Part B. It is of course possible that this part of Lisvane will be returned to, but at the moment it seems unlikely that a Nominations Commission approach to the Council has any real traction. At most, it may end up being considered as a non-exclusive way of bringing more candidates forward for consideration by the Keys.

Third, the place of the Lord Bishop also came into question, with a number of members supporting a voice not a vote, drawing an analogy with the Attorney but not, although it is perhaps more apt, the Dean of Jersey. This is a topic I have a particular interest in, and a guest blog on Law & Religion will be appearing this week.  In formal terms, the outcome of the debate was that a statement that the Bishop should remain in the Council was put into Part A, while a proposal that “the Bishop should not retain his vote” failed to be referred to the Select Committee.  The latter was carried by the Keys by a majority of 15 to 9, but rejected by the Council by a majority of 5 to 2. Given the dominance of the elected Keys in Tynwald, there is a real medium-term possibility of the Bishop remaining on the Legislative Council, but losing his vote.

Fourth, the dominant theme emerging from the debate – with more focus I felt than from Lisvane itself – was the position of the Council. What is it for, how is it composed, how does it interact with the Keys, how does it relate to the executive? In particular, the debate (and indeed recent events in the Island) highlight the important ways that MLCs have power beyond being part of a revising chamber.  It would not be surprising to see this become the centre of gravity of any immediate proposals for reform, with other reforms being consequent to changes or clarifications of the Legislative Council’s place in the Manx Constitution. This is very much a continuance of a national discussion dating back to before 1917.

Finally, the call for Tynwald to address the need to make its membership more diverse was put into Part A by a considerable majority, despite limited discussion. There was recognition of how difficult it was to identify concrete steps towards this desired goal, although a number of members made it clear that they rejected positive discrimination (which was not, interestingly, at any point proposed by Lord Lisvane). Along with some members of Tynwald, I think that diversity is the area where Lord Lisvane had the least to say about means rather than end. The Select Committee could look to measures being discussed in neighbouring islands, but will face the fundamental challenge that some of the mechanisms adopted elsewhere depend upon a party system, a mechanism which has much less traction on the Island.