The Onchan hustings were never inherently going to be that exciting with the two sitting Onchan candidates looking fairly likely to be re-elected on the 23rd September due to an incredibly poor field of newcomers - but you never really know what these meetings are going throw up until they actually happen. That said the broadcast of the hustings meetings is an essential way for voters to get a feel for the policies and personalities of those standing for Keys - not least because the general venue attendance levels seem to be fairly low so looking at these online clips is likely going to be the only way most of us will get to see what candidates actually stand for and how they publicly project themselves.
Onchan is almost the perfect example of this with so many empty chairs being evident on the night but with the whole event broadcast by Sam Turton on YouTube for those who either couldn't get tickets or who through lack of interest didn't make it on the night.
The following links to the report by Turton for Gef the Mongoose which helpfully breaks the footage down into subject segments:
However before we move on to a very brief summary of what at face value appears to have been a rather lacklustre event we may as well broach the elephant in the room which was the rather surprising appearance of Liberal Vannin's Turd-Polisher General that is Mr Peter Karran - who like a rather shambolic grey-suited Waylon Smithers seems to have been allowed to substitute himself for Springfield's evil Mr Burns in the form of absent Liberal Vannin candidate Mr Peter Willers.
Transparency [or an apparent lack of it] seems to be a repetitive theme for Liberal Vannin this General Election - especially in relation to Mr Josem and Mr Willers. As we've said before Mr Willers appears to carry more personal baggage than an Airbus A380 and though it was claimed that he had an unavoidable hospital appointment we have to say that it does look a tad convenient for Liberal Vannin to have been allowed to make such a substitution such is the residual draw of Mr Karran - who was Onchan MHK for over 30 years and who remains well liked in the area. In fact perhaps Liberal Vannin should be asked to make an official statement in relation to this substitution because as time progresses there is something that feels almost crooked, and venal, and fundamentally underhand about the way Liberal Vannin has gone about positioning many things in this General Election. Which leaves us with the impression that it's leadership has perhaps grown quite bitter, twisted and insecure about LIberal Vannin's impact on Manx politics and is prepared to pretty much say or do anything in order to get one over on other candidates and the voting public in general.
Mr Karran's address on behalf of Mr Willers can be found here:
As for the rest of the evening we suggest that readers make their own judgement on the video footage as we feel its really only the two sitting candidates that come out of the event with any real credibility when it comes to who should have a five-year mandate to represent the people of Onchan. With thirteen-year old ex-commissioner James Cherry coming across as a rather overweight and sweary [I said the word crap at a public meeting, how childishly funny] Harry Potter, and Michael Leather as a sort of confused Richard Briars type who had managed to escape from his nursing home for a few hours to attend the meeting.
We wish all candidates well though and look forward to the 23rd September when the people of Onchan get to make their voice heard.
Pictured: Onchan's Turd-Polisher General
