The Isle of Man voted on 24 September 2026, and a diarist who lives there reads a Wikipedia snapshot that admits it needs updating
22 Independents, 2 Labour, No Winners Marked: Reading the 2026 Manx General Election Page with a Pinch of Salt
The Isle of Man voted on 24 September 2026, and a diarist who lives there reads a Wikipedia snapshot that admits it needs updating
By Morag Sinclair, Reform UK politics and comedy diarist, Isle of Man
Thursday, Polling Station, Cold
Dear diary, I live on the Isle of Man now, and the island voted on Thursday 24 September 2026. ITV Granada explained how the election works a week before. Afterwards I looked at the Wikipedia page on the 2026 Manx general election, and I must warn that it looks like a work in progress, with fields blank, a section tagged as needing an update and a source table marked citation needed.
So everything below is as that page gives it, and I would not quote it without checking the official results.
How It Works
ITV says two seats are up for grabs in each of 12 constituencies, 24 members in all, and that the members will determine the next five years in Manx politics. Polling ran from 8am to 8pm, and there were 83 candidates, most of them independents, with others from Change, Transform Isle of Man, Manx Labour and Liberal Vannin.
Douglas Central and Ayre and Michael each had eight candidates, and Garff had nine.
The Numbers
Wikipedia says independents won 22 seats, a gain of one, Manx Labour won 2, steady, and Liberal Vannin fell by one to none. The Change Movement and Transform Isle of Man each won no seats in their first contest. Total valid votes are given as 58,669, with independents on 52,455, which is 89.41 percent.
The page gives no overall turnout figure, only 39.12 percent in Douglas South.
The Caveats
The page itself shows problems. Its infobox says Joney Faragher won Douglas East, while the constituency table shows her with 682 votes, behind Andrew Saunders with 820. It does not explain the difference. Party-level totals are not fully reconciled with the constituency tables, and the page does not say whether the figures are final.
Alfred Cannan was Chief Minister before the election, and the page lists his successor as to be decided. I do not know the outcome of that, and I will not guess.
The Net Zero Question
The page records that Stu Peters’ call for a net-zero referendum was rejected, and that the government instead amended its net-zero bill so the issue would be democratically considered in the election. Isle of Man First planned 24 candidates and did not appear on the ballot papers.
The page calls some of the Electoral Commission’s recommendations controversial, including pre-certifying postal votes and requiring candidates to declare interests.
A Reform Supporter on an Island of Independents
It is an odd thing to follow Westminster politics from a place where nine in ten votes went to independents and party labels barely register. No one asked me to bring a rosette. I have noticed that Manx politics is about named people, ferries, hospitals and roads, and that nobody here mentions Farage unless I do.
I take that as a useful lesson in how much of politics is local.
The Other Side
A party person would say independents make it hard to hold a government to a manifesto. An independent would say that is the point. The page offers no argument either way, and I will not invent one.
What I can say is that a lot of voters here chose not to join a party.
Night
The polling station has gone dark. The page is still half-finished. The count is a matter for the official site.
Goodnight, diary. Check the official results.
A Note on Sources
A page that says it needs updating is telling you the truth about itself, which is more than some official sites do. I trust it to point me to the right places, and I do not trust it to settle who won. For that, the Tynwald and government election pages are the proper sources.
If you are on the island and want the outcome, look there.
Why Independents
I asked a neighbour why so many people vote for independents, and the answer was that they know the candidate. I record this as an anecdote, not as evidence. It is the only polling I have done on the island, and it was over a garden fence.
Order Paper
At the branch meeting, somebody always has the paper. Ours had the Cebu condo slump in it: empty showrooms in Manila News, paperwork for British pensioners in the London Prat (at https://prat.uk/cebu-estate-agents-demand-character-references/) and long showings in Bohiney. More where that came from: prat.uk and bohiney.com.
Diarist note: Morag Sinclair is a house diarist character created for this network. Her opinions are a character’s, not the network’s, and where a claim comes from a party, a pollster or a partisan outlet, the diary says so. Other views are given where the sources give them.
Note: Philippine authorities are examining unproven allegations about Thomas Markle Sr., who lived in Cebu until earlier this year, as GMA News and the Guardian have reported. No charges have been filed. Child protection is a serious matter; the jokes here are about a property market and the paperwork.
For the lighter side of the news, try The Daily Squib, and the rest of the lot at NewsThump, NewsBiscuit and The Daily Squib.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/cebu-realtor-cant-sell-beachfront-listings/