What does an MHK do?

(Insert Hilarious Joke Here) 

If you ask this question on Facebook or Twitter you’ll be met with a range of incredibly witty responses. 

If you ask an MHK, they’d probably say ‘deal with emails’.

But fundamentally, an MHK is responsible for representing you and other people in your area in our Parliament. They are meant to serve as your voice; they may not always agree with you, but they are there to represent you. 

Day to day in the House of Keys or Tynwald, they are responsible for asking questions and holding the government to account, they debate, help to draft and amend and vote on laws covering everything from Assisted Dying to Road Tax. 

Many of them deal with issues facing the people in their area and serve as a link between the public and government, often asking questions or trying to resolve an issue - if you have a pothole or have been on a waiting list - they may pick up your case. 

They also sit on Committees that look in detail at new and existing laws, and they can be responsible for government-run agencies, like the Post Office, the Office of Fair Trading and Manx Utilities. 

And we can’t forget the fact that they can also serve as Ministers and Political members for a government department. Ministers are essentially responsible for setting the direction of a government department - like Health or Infrastructure and are ultimately responsible if things go wrong. Political members are similar to ‘junior ministers’ in other countries and are responsible for a certain policy area - think buses, sport or tourism. 

It is important to note that not all MHKs are created equal. Some do lots of casework and deal with lots of constituency issues, others… less so. MHKs are supported by the Tynwald team and Ministers have support from Departmental civil servants but generally MHKs don’t have their own staff.  

On Thursday 24 September, the Isle of Man is holding its General Election. Every 5 years, everyone in the Isle of Man who is over the age of 16 and has been resident in the Isle of Man for more than a year has the chance to vote on the people who will represent them in the House of Keys (the Isle of Man’s parliament).

This is just one in our series of short blogs explaining what the hell is happening on 24 September 2026. You can read the rest of the blogs here. 

If you’re planning to vote in the Isle of Man General Election - make sure you’re registered. You can register or find out if you are registered here. 

The deadline for registering to vote is 25 August 2026. If you’re not registered by then you won’t be able to vote on election day.