At lunchtime on Wednesday 9th June the Douglas political grapevine was full of rumours that [Douglas Mayor] Jonny Joughin was spotted in M&S buying a new tie and a fresh pair of wash and wear slacks. This was before late on the same day he announced his formal intention to stand in Douglas East in September 2021.
As Gef The Mongoose reports Mr Joughin, an avid Henry VIII re-enactment enthusiast, narrowly came third to Chris Robertshaw in Douglas East in 2016. Which is the same as saying that Mr Joughin lost to both Clare Bettison and Chris Robertshaw in the 2016 general election for Douglas East.
Out of the total number of valid votes cast in Douglas East in 2016 [1,705] Mr Joughin received 480 or just over 15% of the vote. Eight candidates stood. Douglas East traditionally always has a large field of potential Keys candidates where even a small number of votes lost can result in big disappointment.
What our furry friend Gef conveniently forgets though is that Mr Joughin actually won the 2015 Douglas East by-election only to almost instantly lose his seat again [as above] after spending less than a year as Douglas East MHK. As Andy Warhol once said everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.
Douglas East by-election results 2015:
It is also reported by Gef that Mr Joughin will continue in his role as Douglas Mayor until the end of his current term [while presumably also canvassing for votes in the general election in almost exactly the same Ward]. So he will not be seeking re-election in the local authority elections in July. Regardless nobody can sit as Mayor two terms in a row.
So it seems that the ex-postie and current Douglas taxi driver has firmly thrown the gauntlet down to both Joney Faragher and MIchael Josem in Douglas East. Rumours of Joughin's M&S binge also extend to the alleged purchase of a brand new pair of espadrilles with shoe laces apparently still proving to be overly challenging for the long term Victoria Ward representative.
As with all standing candidates we wish Mr Joughin the very best of luck and look forward to seeing his manifesto in due course.
Jonathan Joughin, JP. Pictured at a recent Henry VIII re-enactment meeting.
