A fourth candidate now declares in Ayre and Michael making the running now comprised of Tim Baker, Paul Weatherall, Tim Johnston and Alfred Cannan.
The timing of Mr Cannan's announcement was interesting in two ways. Firstly it comes the day after he announced that Treasury would be seeking approval to borrow up to £400 million to re-finance the Steam Packet and Manx Utilities debts:
And secondly as it appears that he took directly to Twitter to announce his intentions himself. Leaving IOM Newspapers (and presumably Manx Radio too) more than a bit flummoxed about what to say:
The above is certainly not the best write up regarding what could well be the candidacy of our next Chief Minister we're sure readers will agree. But perhaps once again it may well be the case of the local press not being that bothered to look for a story until one pops up in their Twitter feed.
Which leaves little for us to report on too at this stage.
Will he get back in? Likely a resounding yes from most people you talk to in that neck of the woods. Will he declare that he will also put himself forward as Chief Minister? Again likely a resounding yes from most people on the government grapevine. As one of the few people who has come out of the IOM pandemic response with any real credibility so far its clear that there is only going to be one Ayre MHK with a twitchy backside in 2021 and its fairly unlikely that this will be Alfred Louis Cannan MHK. But you never know.
More to come on this though when the press finally wakes up!
