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About the Isle of Man - The Government
The Isle of Man is an internally self-governing dependent territory
of the British Crown. It is not and has never been part of the United
Kingdom but is within the British Isles. Queen Elizabeth II is acknowledged
by the Island as its Head of State, but the Island is politically
and constitutionally separate from the United Kingdom. It is technically
a Crown Dependency and is thus independent in all matters except
foreign affairs and defence, both of which are the responsibility
of the United Kingdom Government and for which the Isle of Man pays
an annual contribution.
The Manx exercise their extensive political and legislative independence
through their ancient parliament, Tynwald, which is the oldest legislature
in the world in continuous existence. Tynwald has two branches,
consisting of the House of Keys (which is elected by universal suffrage)
and the Legislative Council (whose members are elected by members
of the House of Keys). The 24 members of the House of Keys are popularly
elected every 5 years and the overwhelming majority are independents.
The next general election is in November 2006. The Island is noteworthy
for its relative absence of party politics; this has contributed
to the remarkable stability of the Manx system.
The Island has a ministerial system of government that is headed
by the Chief Minister who selects the Manx Cabinet (the Council
of Ministers). The Chief Minister is nominated by Tynwald from amongst
its members after each general election.
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