New MHK triumphs with 159 votes

The people of east Douglas have elected their new member of the House of Keys.

The by election has been won tonight by Jon Joughin, a former Douglas councillor and postal worker.

He topped the polls with 159 votes, the lowest number by some margin for three decades, to have taken a candidate to the Keys.

Nurse Clare Bettison was the runner-up, with Richard Falk finishing in third place. 

The seven-way contest saw only 50 votes separate the fifth placed candidate from the winner.

Turnout was 30.5%, with the total number of votes cast 865.

That compares with a turnout at the 2010 by election of almost 38 per cent, and at the general election in 2011 of 40.7 per cent. 

Returning officer Terrence McDonald announced the result at 20 to 10 tonight: