Collister wins Marown Commissioners seat by 290 votes to 38

Kirsty Amanda Collister has won a seat on Marown Commissioners, taking 290 votes in Thursday’s by-election against 38 for Oksana Hargreaves, the only other candidate.

The seat fell vacant when John Lovelady left the board for personal reasons. Manx Radio and Isle of Man Today both reported that Marown had not had a contested election since 2008. Manx Radio said the authority had not given a turnout figure.

Voting took place at Crosby Methodist Hall on Thursday, 8 October, and closed at 20:00. 3FM noted that parish voters had now been to the polls twice in a fortnight.

Ms Collister told Local Democracy Reporter Emma Draper she was “absolutely over the moon”, adding: “It still doesn’t feel like a real number.” She thanked her family and everyone who voted.

Her first job, she said, was to learn from longer-serving members. She intends to look at the parish’s public toilet provision, which she called “a big, big subject”, along with its playgrounds and finances.

Isle of Man Today said Marown is understood to be the island’s only local authority without a publicly funded toilet. At a pre-election hustings attended by about 55 residents, the BBC said, people also raised street lighting, speeding and road surfaces.