Speaker A
Well, hello and welcome back to our Mega Studio Vote 2026. This is the after-debate debate or party, whatever you want to call it.
Post-debate analysis of the 2026 Douglas East and Ramsey election, focusing on candidate performance and government reform.
Key Takeaways
- Incumbents appeared complacent and defensive during the debate, which may affect voter perception.
- Challengers demonstrated a stronger commitment to government reform and addressing systemic issues.
- Reform is essential to improve government efficiency and ensure important sectors like tourism receive proper attention.
- Bureaucratic complexity currently hinders effective governance and clear communication with the electorate.
- Public engagement through question submissions is encouraged to enhance democratic participation.
What the video covers
- Hosts review the 2026 Douglas East and Ramsey election debates, focusing on candidate performance and key issues.
- Discussion highlights the division between incumbents and challengers, noting incumbents appeared complacent.
- Emphasis on the critical need for government reform, a theme recognized by challengers more than incumbents.
- Dave McKai praised for his focus on reform and clearer departmental focus, especially regarding tourism.
- Critique of current government structure and bureaucracy, with suggestions for streamlined departments and independent spokespersons.
- Hosts encourage viewer participation by submitting questions for future discussions.
- Analysis includes reflections on past government terms and the challenges faced by candidates.
- The importance of addressing overspending and mismanagement within government departments is underscored.
- Candidates’ approaches to reform and policy are contrasted, with challengers seen as more proactive.
- The video concludes with a call to viewers to engage with election coverage across various media platforms.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction and Welcome
- 01:03Discussion on Douglas East and Candidate Backgrounds
- 02:13Viewer Questions and Debate Format
- 03:01Incumbents vs Challengers Analysis
- 04:18Critique of Incumbent Performance
- 05:21Focus on Reform and Dave McKai's Views
- 07:42Government Structure and Departmental Reform
- 08:51Summary and Closing Remarks
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
The leftovers. The left. You're really selling this well, aren't you? [laughter] So, if you haven't already, join us. Last night, me and Chris, we sat here, we watched the debates, and then we had a little chitchat about it. Who performed? I'm
Speaker A
personally doing it purely on what I see tonight. You're taking a lot more information, but you've made a lot of notes on that.
Speaker A
Yes. Yes, indeed. But before we start, perhaps you'll allow me to apologize to Steven Broad. You remember last night he was a candidate in the Ara Michael presentation and you asked me who I thought I favored in terms of the
Speaker A
presentation and I couldn't remember Steven's first name. So, a profuse apology, Stephen, and I do hope that at some stage you catch this and forgive me.
Speaker A
I wouldn't. No, I'm joking. Right. I'm used to that. Let's talk Douglas. Start with your old stomping ground. How many terms did you do?
Speaker A
Yeah. Well, three, but I stood four times. I didn't get in the first time, but it was difficult for me tonight with being so close to the Douglas East issues to not get myself embroiled in
Speaker A
the policy issues. That's for the candidates. It's not for me to do so. I'm much more focused on observing the performance and also measuring where I believe that the candidates recognize the importance of reform, reform development, and that
Speaker A
really started to develop last night when we were able to focus on the fact that for Alf Cannon, it's now front and center. From my perspective, it's important to see who else recognizes the importance of
Speaker A
Well, luckily there were fewer people standing tonight because it was a big party loss, wasn't it? So, that made it interesting for me to have a deeper dive into some of those questions.
Speaker A
Yeah. And we had some really good questions that Richard Lee was able to present. So, thank you for those people who wrote in.
Speaker A
Oh, yeah. By the way, and do that if you're watching this now, you can always just write in and you might get your question asked, which I think is fantastic. But I really hope you know, because you got all these notes, I want
Speaker A
to hear what you got to say. Yeah. It was easy really for me to define how I felt about this evening.
Speaker A
There were five candidates for Douglas East and they divided into two very, very clear distinct groups. Those who are already or have been members, that's incumbents.
Speaker A
Incumbents. Yes. Claire, Barbara, and Johnny Farra. Yeah. And the three challengers in the form of Andrew Foster, Dave McKai, and Andrew Saunders.
Speaker A
So the women on the versus the men on this occasion, but that's purely incidental to the fact, I have to say, Paul, that we're defining the difference between those who were incumbents and those who were challengers. And there's some—I'm going
Speaker A
to say some rather difficult things now. And what follows in no way reflects personal feelings towards the individuals. This is a very, very important election. It matters hugely and we have to get it right. And
Speaker A
I was concerned about the way the incumbents presented themselves. In fact, if I can define it, and I'm sorry if people find this uncomfortable, but they came over as complacent, apologetic spokespersons for the departments,
Speaker A
and in fact Claire actually spoke, as I was listening to her, like a civil servant and I was seeing phrases which I hear the civil service use like, "a matter is being looked at," "we're doing some work around that area." She was the first one to say "hit the ground running," which is all my trigger words.
Speaker A
Well, these are all my trigger words. I mean, this is every, whenever anything is a matter of discussion which they don't want to arrive at a conclusion. It's a challenging matter.
Speaker A
I mean, everyone's going to say, "You've been in power and you're here back again saying things weren't right." Well, why weren't they right? Is that what he's trying to say here? It's easy when you're on the outside, criticizing.
Speaker A
And I think that's what Claire said at one stage, that it's very easy. What about me?
Speaker A
No, not you. I'm talking about the ones who are standing who are arguing to try and get in. Like Claire was saying, in her first five years, she was a backbencher, wasn't she? Then she was the one
Speaker A
that was having a go with the ministers and the government. Then the second five, she's up there.
Speaker A
But right the way through all this time, we have had misstructures of the way government functions. And that, to me, was something that was very clear early doors after a few months as an MHK.
Speaker A
And right the way through that period, I fought for change. And it seems at last, after all these years, and I'm still doing it now because I'm so passionate about the need for reform, because if we don't have it, we are going to run into
Speaker A
all sorts of difficulties. Okay. So, Claire's answers were very—it was as listening to Claire and to some extent Johnny, you got the impression that everything was fine, you know, that we haven't got these
Speaker A
big overspends, that we haven't got these hugely misplaced projects. And we haven't lost our democratic link with the electorate. And it was all down to little matters which are being looked after. And that simply is not the
Speaker A
case. And what was refreshing as far as the challenges were concerned is that I think all three of them grasped the importance of reform and brought it into play in their comments and I was sort of much encouraged about that.
Speaker A
Oh, okay. So take us through who you were impressed with, exactly why. Well, all three of them did well and particularly I was pleased with Dave McKai's comments. He spoke about, and I'll talk about policy matters if
Speaker A
you like, but only as they relate to the concept of reform. And he was talking quite rightly about the importance of tourism getting a much more clear focus, that at the moment it's sort of lost in the Department for Enterprise.
Speaker A
Well, yes, I agree with David, but what I would say, I would take it further from a reform point of view, that there's a lot of matters sitting in a variety of different departments that need to get light and oxygen that they don't
Speaker A
currently get. They get lost in the departments and by the time issues related to tourism or sport or culture or whatever it is in whatever department, by the time it gets to the floor of Tynwald, it's been filtered
Speaker A
through a bureaucracy, it's been filtered through a CEO, through a minister, and it may or may not get that light and oxygen that's needed. And in a reformed system, a reformed system of government where it's a, you know, an umbrella
Speaker A
organization, a unified organization, it becomes immediately possible to remove these important areas which aren't in themselves big departments and give them an opportunity to be expressed on the floor of Tynwald, not necessarily through a minister but through an
Speaker A
independent spokesperson. So that will then refine down the issue of what does DESK do in the future.
Speaker A
Well, it would be education, pure education, and have as its head a director of education, not this bureaucracy with a CEO at the top of it that would very much more, in a much more focused way, work with the heads of the various schools. This is your thoughts though, right? This is not what they said tonight.
Speaker A
It was effectively what Dave was saying. David was saying, "Look, we need to see these other areas which are currently lost in these clumsy conglomerates get light and oxygen and be understood and have their voice
Speaker A
heard clearly in Tynwald and through the system that I'm describing." That's exactly what you get. But not just for tourism, for all those other areas. So in that respect, did Dave and I, as it were, one right? So I mean, let's deal with some
Speaker A
Douglas things. I mean, they all agreed on the prom—
Speaker A
heard clearly in Timold and through the system that I'm describing. That's exactly what you get. But not just for tourism, for all those other areas." So in that respect did Dave and I as it were one right. So I mean let's deal with some
Speaker A
Douglas things. I mean they they all agreed on the prominard. I think you can't go wrong with that one. Although the horse trams were a bit well you're taking me down to to policy decisions which um it's important not
Speaker A
for me not to I mean who am I to express what you think they they did? How did they feel these things? Do you feel any confidence on on any of the this these particular subjects? Douglas East, what
Speaker A
is the big one? Is it is it the prominard? Well, one of the other areas that they raised um again through the the I think through the lens of tourism, but it applies to so many things broader and
Speaker A
beyond agriculture. That was the the issue of the pricing of the steam packet and um it's being mishandled at the moment. and they said that very clearly and if I just may I touch on that for a moment.
Speaker A
Sure you want. Okay. Listen to me. [laughter] So um I remember challenging the new chairman of the steam package at the last government conference was that last year?
Speaker A
Okay. And I I asked the new chairman of uh the steam packet why they weren't introducing yield management and he said that yes they were. And I um was somewhat rude and I said, "Well, no, you're not." And in fact, they still
Speaker A
aren't and they still do not know how to properly manage yield management. So, it's sufficiently advantageous to to the local community, to visitors, and other areas as well.
Speaker A
So, that that was very important to them. So what what we were seeing a difference between was um the current sitting members as were who were very much more um as it were absorbed and pulled into the civil service
Speaker A
bureaucratic way of thinking as it were offering a pretense that things just needed small adjustments here and there and three challenges who were saying no we need more fundamental change and that was the interesting comparison between the two.
Speaker A
What about the interest in having two people in in the service industry slash you know the the a hotel got and the gentleman who does uh business with with his outlets entertainment. One of the one of the massive weaknesses of the
Speaker A
last house undoubtedly and without question has been the fact that there's hardly been anybody hardly anybody some very few that that came in in 2021 with uh a significant um private sector experience and all the the learning that
Speaker A
came from that and the cuts and bruises they got on the way that they were going to make sure that they didn't replicate those mistakes. takes representing the people of the aisle of man. And so it's very very important that we don't have
Speaker A
um um MHK's in the next house who are just as it were front of house spokesmen for the system and believe that that's enough. That's got to stop. And we also from the those who are coming in with
Speaker A
private sector experience, we've got to see them really challenge and make sure that that challenge is seen uh and regarded by the civil service because at the moment there's a a very has been show sorry over the last five years has
Speaker A
been a a distinct feeling that many of us have developed that actually the departments are manipulating ing the members. Um, so we need a house that's going to resist that.
Speaker A
Okay. Before I move you on to Ramsey because of time. Are you should the incumbents be worried?
Speaker A
Yes. Oh, both. In this case, I believe so. Yes. I I read it quite differently. I thought one particularly performed. I I'll say and I do know her, so we have to bring that into the mix. Cla who I thought may
Speaker A
be in trouble. I thought she handled herself pretty well. And you see that's the beauty about us two. You see it completely different to how I saw it.
Speaker A
And it'd be interesting to know how the public saw it. I thought she had answers to a lot of things there. Um, but you know, it it is what it is. That's that's what I'm making my judgment calls on. I
Speaker A
was surprised. I thought things were going to be different. And she CLA presented as a civil servant and she didn't reach down into what's fundamentally wrong with the with the government. And if if you were to believe both Joan and Cla, you would
Speaker A
think, oh, well, you know, it's everything's okay. No, it's not. Okay. We're going to put our names uh the names we think who's going to get in into an envelope, seal it, and on the night we will see how we did. Plus, I
Speaker A
think I might another mix. I'm going to add who AI think might win because they AI has its thoughts as well. I've been looking at it. Anyway, let's go to Ramsey.
Speaker A
Um how do you Yeah. What's your scrim? [laughter] Well, we only have one incumbent here, don't we? Because that's going to help him, right? Do you think that's going to help?
Speaker A
It's going to help him. Do you think because um well I think he topped the poll anyway last time but he he seemed quite confident to be tonight but it's uh I think again we the how many were there
Speaker A
five was the there were five uh candidates here this morning this evening one was missing Nigel.
Speaker A
Oh yeah. Is that the one that's standing in two different places? I I don't know but he he's not standing anywhere. He hasn't appeared here.
Speaker A
He hasn't appeared in other television things. I think the BBC didn't get him either. So, well, I think he should have been here tonight, but then obviously should have been here.
Speaker A
Yeah. Yeah. Um, so, uh, I think again we saw a division. We saw a division between those sort of a replication of what had happened before, uh, between those with, uh, a significant private sector experience that they were
Speaker A
bringing to this, uh, this election and those with perhaps less so. And then and then the exception would have been um Lori Hooper. Lori Hooper scared me. Lori Hooper, if you listen and I'm sure people will go back or they already have
Speaker A
listened to it before coming to the leftover show, you and I. Um he he made he worried me. He made light of the the overspend.
Speaker A
Um well, he's in he was in government for a bit and but whatever. Nothing ever seems to his tweets. Nothing's ever his.
Speaker A
Well, he said, "Oh, well, it's only this many millions and and our turnover is such and such a thing and we should be able to sort it." Well, we haven't so far. And how much have we overspent in
Speaker A
the last 5 years? Well, it's sort of around about 500 million. Um, I don't think we make small of that.
Speaker A
Came across like the cat that got the cream to me. He looked quite pleased with himself, I thought. Well, and the other thing was and I was very very cross with this that he suggested having tried to to belittle the the
Speaker A
repeating overspend, he tried to suggest that any further cut in government would result in frontline services. That is complete and utter nonsense and it's misleading the public and I'm I ask the public to to dis disregard um that statement because the whole
Speaker A
point of back to the issue of reform and refining government gives us the opportunity to deliver a much more efficient smaller government where more more money is spent on the front line and le on less on back office functions.
Speaker A
So, um, there there was an awful complacency there which which frankly angered me. Who was I pleased with?
Speaker A
Yeah. Who who standing out? Let's go on the other side. Yeah. Um, Robert Cow and um Janine Shim now.
Speaker A
Oh, interesting. Yeah. My short list. The one or two things that I I but this is about policy. So, what's it for me to to be involved in this? One or two areas that Janine I understand has promulgated
Speaker A
as matters of interest to her alike. I think one is legalizing cannabis um and a visitor tax which of course I don't agree with at all but where I was um encouraged was her really pragmatic downto-earth approach uh born out of a a
Speaker A
long period of experience and that was also reflected by Rob Cowell's contribution again I didn't agree with everything but it's not for me to be concerned about presented very I thought I think I thought they both did.
Speaker A
I thought the other two uh gentlemen were more inclined to to have backgrounds which had more vested interest in being more associated with with local uh government issues and less private sector experience. So there were two outstanding candidates for me third last
Speaker A
time. So he he that's interesting. Well, I think I think standing again for a second time shows a real commitment to um to Ramsay and to to to want to get his message over. Uh so I wish Robert
Speaker A
and Janine Shiman well. Right. Well, um the the stories of the wind farm, this is the first time that there was an actual got into, you know, a few questions about that because I kept thinking it's going to be the
Speaker A
biggest story ever. I suppose it is an eastern side of the Alaman thing. Uh overall, what do you think?
Speaker A
Overall about Well, I if anyone says for it, do you think they're going to be in trouble? I mean, and also without guidance from the AGs, which Oh, well, look, I mean, look, it's late in the evening for us now.
Speaker A
Don't get your blood pressure up now. and I could I could keep board till 2:00 in the morning.
Speaker A
But but I think to to give you a quick answer, there was uh a pretty balanced uh approach to it. um quite rightly criticism of the AGs whose advice was correct in the narrow element with regard to planning but fail completely
Speaker A
and totally to advise candidates across the broader issue that ultimately the successful candidates will have to be engaged in the decision and they will have to have a huge amount more information than they currently have and they also all agree that solar might
Speaker A
be the best for Ramsey soon they get the most sunshine on the aisle of man.
Speaker A
Well, interesting. I would I would refer people who are uh sort of jumping on the bandwagon of current intermittent renewables to have a look at what Japan's doing. They have now seven sources of non developing spending a fortune on non-intermittent
Speaker A
renewables and the future is going to be down to renewables but not intermittent because intermittency costs a fortune. Are you going to shut me up?
Speaker A
I'm shutting you up because I was going to say gas as well and I really don't want to go down that rabbit hole. Don't take me there.
Speaker A
Don't we'll quit while we're ahead, I think. Yeah. What's tomorrow night now? Oh, I don't know. Let's Anyway, thank you very much for watching. Thank you to Jun Turner and his production team for uh for this after hours little special
Speaker A
and uh you'll find them all online, all the programs on all the sites through all the major independent media who have made this all happen. I hope you enjoy it as much as we are. I mean, I love it
Speaker A
here just watching it in person and I hope it comes across. I found both the the candidate presentations and the questions that Richard uh Lee did.
Speaker A
Yeah. posed were very very interesting and very and it's coming from the audience that's another thing it's coming in from the public so I look forward to the questions that prompt tomorrow nights okay so very quick mention if you wanted
Speaker A
to go to vote2026im you'll find all the details if you want to place a question there that's it thank you very much we'll be back tomorrow please vote
Topics:Douglas EastRamseyVote 2026Isle of Mangovernment reformelection debateincumbents vs challengerstourism policybureaucracypublic participation
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