The Liberal Vannin Party (LVP; gv, Partee Libraalagh Vannin) is a
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...
in the
Isle of Man
)
, anthem = "O Land of Our Birth"
, image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg
, image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg
, mapsize =
, map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe
, map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green)
in Europe ...
. It was founded in 2006 by
Peter Karran
Peter Karran (born 20 May 1960) is a Manx politician, who is a former leader of the Liberal Vannin Party and former Minister of Education and Children. He was a Member of the House of Keys for Middle, and then for Onchan, from 1985 to 2016.
...
, then an
Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
MHK for
Onchan
Onchan (; glv, Kione Droghad) is a village in the parish of Onchan on the Isle of Man. It is at the north end of Douglas Bay. Administratively a district, it has the second largest population of settlements on the island, after Douglas, with wh ...
. Karran had been, until 2004, a member of the
Manx Labour Party
The Manx Labour Party ( gv, Partee Obbraghys Vannin) is a political party on the Isle of Man that was founded in 1918.
Policies
The Manx Labour Party published a manifesto of policies in 2021. It proposed increasing government spending on educ ...
. The "Vannin" in the party name is a form of the name of the Isle of Man in the native
Manx Gaelic language
Manx ( or , pronounced or ), also known as Manx Gaelic, is a Gaelic language of the insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family. Manx is the historical language of the Manx people ...
, while "Liberal" is a reference to the general political position of the party. The party is currently led by
Lawrie Hooper
Lawrie Lee Hooper is a Welsh-born Manx politician who is the leader of Liberal Vannin Party and current Minister for the Department of Enterprise. He represented Ramsey in the House of Keys
The House of Keys () is the directly elected l ...
MHK.
The Liberal Vannin Party put forward several candidates at the
2006 general election and had two MHKs elected. In the
2011 general election, they returned three MHKs. This result was mirrored in the
2016 general election, but one of these subsequently resigned from the party, and one died in 2020. The party had 4 candidates in the
2021 Manx general election, of whom one (Hooper) was elected. As of 2021, they are one of only two parties in the
House of Keys
The House of Keys () is the directly elected lower house of Tynwald, the parliament of the Isle of Man, the other branch being the Legislative Council.
History
The oldest known reference to the name is in a document of 1417, written in ...
; the remaining 21 out of the 24 members are
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
s. The party do not currently hold any seats on the
Douglas Borough Council
The Douglas Borough Council is the local elected authority for the capital of the Isle of Man, the town of Douglas, and one of the 17 parishes that run local services on the Isle (however, it is the only authority with the "Borough" status). It i ...
.
The party campaigns on a platform of greater accountability and transparency in government
and also strives for further
devolution
Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories h ...
from the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
to the Isle of Man.
History
The Liberal Vannin Party was founded in 2006 by
Peter Karran
Peter Karran (born 20 May 1960) is a Manx politician, who is a former leader of the Liberal Vannin Party and former Minister of Education and Children. He was a Member of the House of Keys for Middle, and then for Onchan, from 1985 to 2016.
...
, a former member of the
Manx Labour Party
The Manx Labour Party ( gv, Partee Obbraghys Vannin) is a political party on the Isle of Man that was founded in 1918.
Policies
The Manx Labour Party published a manifesto of policies in 2021. It proposed increasing government spending on educ ...
. Karran was joined by Tony Wright who was already intending to contest
Rushen
Rushen ( ; gv, Rosien), formally Kirk Christ Rushen, is one of the seventeen historic parishes of the Isle of Man.
It is located in the south of the island (part of the traditional ''South Side'' division) in the sheading of the same name.
A ...
as an independent. It was announced that their target seats would be
Douglas South
Douglas South is a House of Keys constituency in Douglas, Isle of Man
Douglas ( gv, Doolish, ) is the capital and largest town of the Isle of Man, with a population of 26,677 (2021). It is located at the mouth of the River Douglas, an ...
,
Middle and
Onchan
Onchan (; glv, Kione Droghad) is a village in the parish of Onchan on the Isle of Man. It is at the north end of Douglas Bay. Administratively a district, it has the second largest population of settlements on the island, after Douglas, with wh ...
.
The party stood nine candidates in the
2006 Manx general election, and two of them were elected:
Peter Karran
Peter Karran (born 20 May 1960) is a Manx politician, who is a former leader of the Liberal Vannin Party and former Minister of Education and Children. He was a Member of the House of Keys for Middle, and then for Onchan, from 1985 to 2016.
...
in
Onchan
Onchan (; glv, Kione Droghad) is a village in the parish of Onchan on the Isle of Man. It is at the north end of Douglas Bay. Administratively a district, it has the second largest population of settlements on the island, after Douglas, with wh ...
and
Bill Malarkey in
Douglas South
Douglas South is a House of Keys constituency in Douglas, Isle of Man
Douglas ( gv, Doolish, ) is the capital and largest town of the Isle of Man, with a population of 26,677 (2021). It is located at the mouth of the River Douglas, an ...
. Karran received more votes than any other candidate in the election. After being elected representing the Liberal Vannin Party, Malarkey resigned from the party and sat as an independent. The Liberal Vannin Party sent delegates to the
Liberal International
Liberal International (LI) is a worldwide organization of liberal political parties - a political international. It was founded in Oxford in 1947 and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties, aiming to strengthen liberalism around ...
's 2007 Hamburg Conference, where they became Observer Members pending verification at the 2008 Belfast Conference.
Since the 2008 Belfast Conference, Liberal Vannin has been an official Observer Member of Liberal International.
The Liberal Vannin Party is also listed as a "Sister Party" of the British
Liberal Democrats.
At the
2011 Manx general election, the Liberal Vannin Party stood ten candidates, received 20.9% of the vote and had three Members of the House of Keys elected.
These were Peter Karran and
Zac Hall
Zac Hall Member of the House of Keys, MHK is a former Member of the House of Keys for Onchan (parish), Onchan in the Isle of Man (from 2011 to 2016) and was a Department of Food and Agriculture (Isle of Man), Minister for Department of Food and Ag ...
in Onchan, and
Kate Beecroft
Kathleen Joan "Kate" Costain (formerly Beecroft) is a Manx politician who is a former Leader of the Liberal Vannin Party and was a Member of the House of Keys for Douglas South from 2011 to 2020. She changed her surname from Beecroft to Costai ...
in Douglas South. Beecroft, standing as the official Liberal Vannin candidate, defeated Bill Malarkey who had previously been a member of the party but was contesting the seat as an independent.
From 2011 to 2012, Karran served in the
Isle of Man Government
The Isle of Man Government ( gv, Reiltys Ellan Vannin) is the government of the Isle of Man. The formal head of the Isle of Man Government is the Lieutenant Governor, the personal representative of Charles III. The executive head is the Chief Mi ...
as the
Minister for Education and Children.
In May 2012 Zac Hall had his membership revoked for "bringing the party into disrepute", leaving them with only two MHKs.
In 2014 Kate Beecroft (subsequently known as Kate Costain) was elected Leader of the Liberal Vannin Party, with Karran saying it "was time for a change".
In 2020, Costain resigned and Lawrie Hooper MHK was elected as her replacement.
He is now the only LibVan MHK.
General election results: House of Keys
Party leaders
See also
*
Elections in the Isle of Man
*
List of political parties in the Isle of Man
The following is a list of political parties on the Isle of Man.
Active parties
* Isle of Man Green Party
* Liberal Vannin Party
* Manx Labour Party
* Mec Vannin
As of January 2023, all bar three members of both branches of Tynwald are independ ...
References
External links
Official website
{{Manx political parties
Political parties in the Isle of Man
Liberal parties in the United Kingdom