Onchan MHK resigns from party

Julie Edge says she was placed in ‘impossible position’

The Lib Van party has been rocked by the resignation of one of its members.

Onchan MHK Julie Edge has quit, reducing its representation in Tynwald by a third.

Ms Edge tabled her resignation yesterday afternoon (Thursday) saying she’d made the decision with regret but in the interests of her constituents as she was restricted from fulfilling the role properly for the people of Onchan.

It’s 15 months since she was elected.

Ms Edge says she thought long and hard about her position before tendering her resignation.

But while she continues to ‘uphold many of the principles and values of LibVan policies’, she feels she has to put her constituents first, highlighting a number of situations she believes are hindering her from representing the people of Onchan.

The final straw, she claims, was being told by party leader, Health Minister Kate Beecroft, that she could not ask oral questions about health issues on the floor of the House of Keys.

There’s a history of similar actions to those of Ms Edge. South Douglas member Bill Malarkey resigned in 2008, two years after being elected on a Lib Van ticket citing similar concerns and in 2012 Zac Hall, also from Onchan, was effectively sacked after he claimed there was a lack of democracy within Lib Van.

Ms Edge’s resignation leaves Mrs Beecroft and Ramsey MHK Lawrie Hooper as the only members of the party in Tynwald.

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