00:00Okay, so with Dr. Michelle Hayward, election candidate in Russian, former government minister,
00:08have you enjoyed the election process? I think you'd have to be some sort of insane to enjoy
00:13an election process. It's like the worst job interview you ever, ever do. It's pretty full
00:18on, isn't it? Yeah, it has. It's been weeks of door knocking and canvassing and then a really
00:25long day today, sort of greeting people as they come in to vote. There's no part of it
00:29that you find enjoyable? Oh no, I love the conversations on the doorstep and I wish I had
00:34more time to do that and I think the sad reality is once you get into House of Keys and
00:40you
00:40start getting involved in department work and government work and the parliamentary side
00:45of things that you get much less time to be able to do that sort of connection with the
00:49people that you represent. It's a tough job, isn't it? It is. And even more of a tough job
00:54being involved in government. Yeah, it is. And I think, you know, with such a small number
01:00of MHKs, you need people to get involved in government, even if they're not at the level
01:05of ministers, they need to be department members because otherwise departments don't function
01:08properly. What were the main issues that you encountered on the doorstep?
01:15Unfounded fear over immigration came up quite a lot and a lot of misinformation out there
01:20that's been spread around and I really regret the people that I've met who are, have been
01:25here and have had leave to be here for sometimes, you know, decades who are fearful that actually
01:31we might suddenly throw them out of their homes and send them back to some country they've
01:35not lived in for 20 plus years. I think that's unfounded and I think there are some people
01:40saying, well, you know, talk about asylum seekers. We don't have asylum seekers here on the
01:45island. It's just a nonsense story, but it creates fear and it manipulates people with
01:49fear. Do you think government should have been clearer on these issues to put to bed?
01:55I think they've tried, but I think you've seen, you know, throughout this process, there
01:59are some candidates who've tried to play on that fear and it's an imported narrative from
02:03the UK. It doesn't reflect the reality in the Isle of Man.
02:06Yeah. I'll ask you about 20 mile an hour.
02:10Came off a few times.
02:11Yeah, we've got 20 mile an hour zone in Portsmouth and that's been working well.
02:16It's working well. It was signed off by the previous minister, so although it landed and
02:20the signs went up during my time, it was actually signed off by Mr Crouckle when he was minister
02:24for the, I don't know, second or third time, you know, second time probably.
02:28Do you think that's the issue that probably...
02:32No, actually I've found, I've encountered people, certainly up at Brada and around Balafesson
02:37who want an extension to the 20 miles an hour that are already there because actually they
02:41see speed past their homes as one of the big factors that makes them feel unsafe in the
02:45areas they live in. So I've actually seen, I've had a few pushbacks from people and things,
02:51but I think you have to realise the position that even as a government minister is that if
02:55our democratically elected parliament, Tim Ward, has said, do this thing, then actually
03:00you should do that thing. And it's not for ministers to turn around and say, no, I'm not.
03:06You know, you occasionally get them people who say, oh yes, but that was the defence of,
03:10I don't know, people in Nazi death camps saying I was just following orders. I'm not following
03:14orders, I'm following the democratically elected will of Tinwald, which should be the highest
03:18authority in the land.
03:19It was Tinwald...
03:21Tinwald twice over.
03:22Tinwald resolution twice over which you were implementing.
03:25Yeah, I just happened to be the minister at the point when the DOI were ready to implement
03:29it and stuff like that. But, you know, it is what it is.
03:32So how do you think it will go tonight?
03:34I've no idea. I'm the worst judge ever of how my performance is and where things are at.
03:40I've had lots of positive comments on the doorstep. I've had lots of positive comments
03:44today from people. And I thank everyone who has turned out to vote, because I think that
03:48the turnout has been relatively good all day. And it's lovely to see that many people engaging
03:53in the democratic process.
03:55Very good. We'll find out later.
03:56Indeed.
