1. SWEARING IN OF MEMBERS

The procession into the Chamber consisted of the Seneschal, the Chief Registrar, the Secretary of the , His Honour the Second , His Honour the First Deemster and .

The First Deemster: Please do sit down. Hon. Members of the House of Keys, ladies and gentlemen, we are assembled here this morning for the administration of the requisite oaths or affirmations that need to be taken by Members of the House of Keys. I am , Her Majesty’s First Deemster and Clerk of the Rolls, and it is my great privilege and pleasure to be presiding over this important ceremony this morning. I am accompanied by His Honour the Second Deemster, ; the Secretary of the House of Keys, Mr Roger Phillips; and the Chief Registrar, Mr Stephen Cregeen. Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act 1995 provides that no Member of the Keys shall be permitted to sit and vote in the Keys until he or she has taken and subscribed the oaths required by law. Those oaths are the Oath of Allegiance to Her Majesty the Queen and the Oath of a Member of the House of Keys. The procedure which will be followed is that the Secretary of the House will proceed to call Members by constituency in turn, commencing in alphabetical order with Arbory, Castletown and Malew and ending with . A Messenger will escort the Members from their seats and back again once the formalities have been duly completed. Once the Member’s Certificate of Election has been checked by the Secretary of the House he will announce, where appropriate, that the Certificate of Election is in order. In respect of the Oath of Allegiance to the Queen, this will be taken by each Member individually. The Member takes the testament in his or her hand and reads the oath on the card provided. The Deemster will then administer the House of Keys Oath of Office to the two Members of the constituency. The Members hold the testament or holy book in their hand but no response is made. Members may, if they prefer, take an affirmation rather than an oath. For those Members taking an affirmation, of course, the testament or holy book will not be used. Deemster Corlett will assist me in the administration of the oaths and the affirmations. I intend to deal with the first six constituencies and Deemster Corlett will deal with the second six constituencies. Each Member will be required to sign the Liber Juramentorum, under the supervision of the Chief Registrar and will then return to his or her seat. When all Members have signed the Liber Juramentorum Deemster Corlett and I will then attest the signatures of the Members. That is the procedure for this morning’s ceremony. I now ask the Secretary of the House of Keys to call forward the Members by constituency.

The Secretary: Thank you, Your Honour. As the First Deemster has said I shall now call the Members to be sworn in alphabetical order of constituency starting on the left hand and going round the Chamber. So I first call the Members for Arbory, Castletown and Malew, Mr Jason Moorhouse and Mr Graham Cregeen to be taken forward.

The Secretary called the Members of the House of Keys forward by constituency. The First and Second administered the oaths to the Members in the following order:

Mr J R Moorhouse and Mr G D Cregeen (Arbory, Castletown and Malew); Mr A L Cannan and Mr T S Baker (Ayre and Michael); Mr C C Thomas and Mrs C A Corlett (Douglas Central); Miss C L Bettison and Mr C R Robertshaw (); Mr D J Ashford and Mr G R Peake

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(); Mrs K J Beecroft and Mr W M Malarkey (); Mr M J Perkins and Mrs D H P Caine (Garff); Mr R K Harmer and Mr G G Boot (Glenfaba and Peel); Mr W C Shimmins and Hon. R H Quayle (Middle); Mr R E Callister and Ms J M Edge (Onchan); Dr A J Allinson and Mr L L Hooper (Ramsey); Hon. J P Watterson and Hon. L D Skelly (Rushen).

The texts of each oath and affirmation were as follows:

Oath of Allegiance I, . . . , do swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Her Heirs and Successors. So help me God.

Affirmation of Allegiance I ….. do solemnly, sincerely and truly affirm and declare that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Her Heirs and Successors.

Oath administered to elected Members of the House of Keys Her Majesty’s Counsel, your fellows’ and your own, you shall not reveal; you shall use your best endeavours to maintain the ancient laws and customs of this Isle. You shall justly and truly deliver your opinion and do right in all matters which shall be put unto you without favour or affection, affinity or consanguinity, love or fear, reward or gain, or for any hope thereof, but in all things you shall deal uprightly and justly and do wrong to no man. So help you God and by the contents of this book.

Affirmation administered to elected Members of the House of Keys You do solemnly, sincerely and truly affirm and declare that Her Majesty’s Counsel, your fellows’ and your own you shall not reveal; you shall use your best endeavours to maintain the ancient laws and customs of this Isle. You shall justly and truly deliver your opinion and do right in all matters which shall be put unto you without favour or affection, affinity or consanguinity, love or fear, reward or gain, or for any hope thereof, but in all things you shall deal uprightly and justly and do wrong to no man.

The First Deemster: Hon. Members, the oaths and affirmations have been taken and administered in front of myself and Deemster Corlett. We are satisfied that each Member has taken the necessary Oath or Affirmation of Allegiance to Her Majesty the Queen, and the necessary Oath or Affirmation of a Member of the House of Keys. Each Member has signed the Liber Juramentorum and we will, in a moment, attest those signatures.

The Deemsters inspected the signatures.

The First Deemster: Hon. Members, we have now completed the formal parts of this ceremony. You have all made a solemn promise to use your best endeavours to maintain the ancient laws and customs of the Island and do right in all matters. In all things you shall deal uprightly and justly. In all your activities you will no doubt be conscious of the need to observe the rule of law. We must all respect the separation of powers between the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. That vital separation is an essential particular of our constitution. Last Thursday, the people of the Island placed their trust and confidence in you. During your term of office you will be required to consider many matters and make difficult decisions upon which the future well-being and reputation of our Island and our people will depend. It is a heavy responsibility but one which all of you have willingly chosen to undertake. I wish you well in discharging your onerous duties.

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We should never take our cherished democratic system for granted. We are all duty-bound to uphold fundamental democratic values in the best interests of the future of this wonderful Island. On behalf of the judiciary I congratulate each and every one of you on your election to the House of Keys. The Secretary of the House of Keys will now make an announcement in respect of the first sitting of the House.

The Secretary: Thank you, your Honour. Hon. Members, in accordance with the precept issued by His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor, the first sitting of the House after the General Election will be this afternoon at 2.30 p.m. The Order Paper for this afternoon’s sitting is on your desks. I would ask that immediately after the departure of their Honours the Deemsters, you all gather in the Keys lobby, which is to my right, to have an official photograph of the new House. Thank you.

The First Deemster: Thank you, Hon. Members. That now concludes the proceedings. I thank you all for your attendance today. The Deemsters and the other officials will now depart.

The House adjourned at 12.08 p.m. and resumed its sitting at 2.30 p.m.

House of Keys 27/09/2016