The 1980s and early 1990s proved a period of major change for both the political structure and economy of the Isle of Man. A ministerial system of government replaced the traditional boards, concentrating executive power in the hands of a minority of Tynwald members. Unprecedented economic growth in the latter half of the 1980s, led by the financial services sector, allowed the new Council of Ministers to spend generously on public services and capital projects. But there were counter-effects. Organised opposition appeared in Tynwald for the first time, raising the prospect of party politics, and rapid development created social and environmental concerns. In the meantime the Island became increasingly aware of the international dimension, particularly with the development of the European Union, as an influence on domestic legislation and the economic future.

A Manx ‘Cabinet’

The gradual diminution of the executive role of the Lieutenant-Governor culminated in his removal, by legislation of 1980, from the chair of Executive Council. But the process of constitutional change throughout the 1960s and 1970s had left a ‘vacuum’ at the centre of government. Such was the view of the Tynwald Select Committee on Constitutional Issues in its third interim report, published in April 1983, on the future of the board system. Chaired by Executive Council chairman Percy Radcliffe, the committee contended that, in practice, each board of Tynwald could ‘carry out its activities without reference to any other agency of the Isle of Man Government’. The report declared:

The method of electing members to Executive Council did not ensure that it represented the whole of Tynwald or the views of the principal agencies of government. The report argued: ‘Thus it has not always been capable of giving the lead in policy sought by Tynwald or of acting in the decisive way regarded as desirable.’