The Speaker of the House of Keys () is the principal officer of 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 L ...

, the lower house of 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 ...

legislature. The

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

is elected from the membership of the House at its first sitting after an election. He is responsible for controlling the procedure of the House and for the authoritative interpretation of its standing orders. He sets the business of the House and authorises the order of business of the House for each sitting. The Speaker uses the letters SHK after his name. The Speaker is not entitled to speak in debates in the House, but is entitled to vote. If a vote is tied, convention dictates that he votes to continue debate or retain the status quo. However the Speaker is entitled to, and does, speak in debates in Tynwald Court. All Speakers from 1750 to 1898 were members of either the Moore or the Taubman families or married into them. Until 1866, the Keys were unelected. Before the House was first elected in 1867 the role of Speaker was assumed to be for life. Thus when Edward Moore Gawne resigned in 1867, he was the first Speaker not to die in office. Since then, although it is possible to resign the office, or nowadays even to fail to be re-elected, all Speakers died in office until

Charles Kerruish Sir Henry Charles Kerruish OBE LLD CP MLC (23 July 1917 – 2 August 2003) was a Manx politician who was the first President of Tynwald and, as Speaker of the House of Keys from 1962 to 1990, was the longest-serving Speaker in any Parliamen ...

in 1990, with the exception of John Robert Kerruish, who was elected to the Legislative Council in 1919. Since then none have died in office. Speakers dress in the same official dress as the

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

: a black silk damask gold lace robe with full bottom wig for state occasions and a black silk gown for normal day business. The current robe was donated by the Speaker of the House of Commons in 1966 to commemorate the centenary of popular elections to the House of Keys. On 27 September 2016,

Juan Watterson Juan Paul Watterson FCA CMgr FCMI FRSA SHK (born 1980) is a Manx politician, who is Speaker of the House of Keys, and a member for Rushen, in the Isle of Man. Early life Born in 1980 to John and Alison Watterson, he was educated at Rush ...

was elected as Speaker, the youngest person to hold the office since John Senhouse Goldie-Taubman.

Chairmen of the House of the Keys

* Richard Stevenson, c.1649–c.1660 *Edward Christian, c.1660–1673 * Charles Christian, 1673–1697 *

Thomas Stevenson Thomas Stevenson PRSE MInstCE FRSSA FSAScot (22 July 1818 – 8 May 1887) was a pioneering Scottish civil engineer, lighthouse designer and meteorologist, who designed over thirty lighthouses in and around Scotland, as well as the Stevenson s ...

, 1697–1704 * John Stevenson, 1704–1738 *

Thomas Heywood Thomas Heywood (early 1570s – 16 August 1641) was an English playwright, actor, and author. His main contributions were to late Elizabethan and early Jacobean theatre. He is best known for his masterpiece '' A Woman Killed with Kindness'', ...

, 1738–1758

Speakers of the House of Keys

* George Moore, 1758–1780 *

John Taubman Major John Taubman (1746–1822) was a Manx politician. He was born in Castletown, Isle of Man, the son of John and Esther (née Christian) Taubman and entered the Manx Parliament, the House of Keys in 1799, following the death of his father. ...

, 1780–1799 *

, 1799–1823 *

Mark Wilks Colonel Mark Wilks (1759 – 19 September 1831) was a Manx soldier, historian and East India Company administrator who worked in southern India principally in the princely state of Mysore. He was the acting Resident at the Wodeyar Court. Life ...

, 1823–1831 * Alexander John Goldie, 1831–1844 *

John Taubman Goldie-Taubman John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, 1844–1847 * John Moore, 1847–1854 * Edward Moore Gawne, 1854–1867 * John Senhouse Goldie-Taubman, 1867–1898 *

Arthur William Moore Arthur William Moore, CVO, SHK, JP, MA (6 February 1853 – 12 November 1909) was a Manx antiquarian, historian, linguist, folklorist, and former Speaker of the House of Keys in the Isle of Man. He published under the sobriquet A. W. Moore. ...

, 1898–1909 *

Dalrymple Maitland Dalrymple Maitland, JP (22 March 1848 – 25 March 1919) was an Isle of Man business leader and public official who served as a member of the House of Keys starting in 1890, and as Speaker of the House of Keys from 1909 to 1919. A native of L ...

, 1909–1919 * John Robert Kerruish, 1919 *

George Frederick Clucas Sir George Frederick Clucas, CBE, JP (11 January 1870 – 11 November 1937) was a Manx politician and Speaker of the House of Keys from 1919 to 1937. He was born in London in 1870, the son of George Pettmann Clucas (born George Pettman Clarke ...

, 1919–1937 * Joseph Davidson Qualtrough, 1937–1960 * Henry Knowles Corlett, 1960–1962 *

, 1962–1990 * George Victor Harris Kneale, 1990–1991 * James Crookall Cain, 1991–1996 * Noel Quayle Cringle, 1996–2000 * John David Qualtrough Cannan, 2000–2001 * Tony Brown, 2001–2006 * Steve Rodan, 2006–2016 *

, 2016–present

Recent elections

*Following the election of Noel Cringle as President of Tynwald {{DEFAULTSORT:Speaker Of The House Of Keys Chairs of lower houses Chairs of subnational legislatures Politics of the Isle of Man