Courtesy Isle of Man government

President of Tynwald, the Honorable Noel Cringle

On July 5, 1979, the Queen of England walked down a long processional way between a small church in St. John’s at the center of the Isle of Man, and a grassy knoll known as Tynwald Hill festively decorated for the high society of the island and illustrious guests. St. John’s represents the geographic and historic center of the island, and the event over which the Queen presided was out of the ordinary: it celebrated the millennium of the oldest continuous parliament in the world – Tynwald.

Tynwald, divided in a popularly elected lower house (House of Keys) and an upper house whose members are elected by the Keys, was introduced to the island by the Norse, who had created the first parliamentary system, the Althing, in Iceland. While the Althing was discontinued at times throughout its history, Tynwald never missed a session, although it can be debated whether the way members were elected always qualified as democratic. Yet today, as a millennium ago, new laws are proclaimed and grievances aired once a year under a midsummer sky – and frequently in a Manx rain – in a splendid demonstration of history’s pomp and glamour.

Tynwald, while entrusted with all the powers and functions of any modern parliament, is still a traditional affair. The sword of state is ceremoniously displayed at meetings of the Tynwald court, the monthly meeting of the upper and lower house. High dignitaries display the full regalia of power from times past; traditions live on in question sessions and parliamentary procedures; the bishop has a seat in the upper house to represent the power of the clergy – long vanished in reality. And speaking about tradition, the two Deemsters, or senior judges, still swear to administer justice “so indifferently as the herring backbone doth lie in the middle of the fish.”

In fact, the Isle of Man is still a traditional, community-based democracy. Chief Minister Richard Corkill is known as a pharmacist as much as as the Chief Minister, and even lists his profession on his government business card.

“Because we are a small place, people with very varied political opinions are unified when it comes to the best interests of the island and its people right across the political spectrum,” says Corkill.

July 5, with its age-old traditions, maintains a sense of what it means to be Manx in a political sense, in a world that pulls small places into a global economy and a global legal system. While procedures at Tynwald change – for example, the right to vote of the unelected bishop is under debate – Tynwald Day is more than a spectacle, and remains the highlight of the political year on the Isle of Man.