Manx Labour Party
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Template:Politics of Man The Manx Labour Party is a political party operating in the Isle of Man. They were formed in 1918 making them the first organised political party in Mann. Their formation was prompted by the high level of indirect taxation as a proportion of the Manx government's income which they viewed as being unfair on the poorest in society, and consequently wanted to increase the reliance on income taxation instead.
Of the small number of parties that have participated in the political process in Mann, the Labour Party have perhaps been the most successful at establishing themselves. Between the First World War and the Second World War the Labour Party were successful in gaining at various times between 4 and 7 seats in the House of Keys. Indeed, the first election they contested was in 1919 and they stood in every constituency on the island bar one.
At the 1946 election the Labour Party had high hopes of emulating the British Labour Party's success in the general election that had taken place the previous year. Contesting the election on a staunchly socialist manifesto, the election became about whether the people of Mann would opt for socialism or not. In the end they resoundingly did not. The Labour Party contested every seat except for the speaker's seat, but won only 2 seats in the House of Keys.
During the 1950s and 1960s the Labour Party made some recovery, but they have never been able to achieve the levels of representation that they had in their early years.
In the 2001 election, of the political parties contesting, they polled the highest percentage of votes, 17.3% and won 2 seats (although they had nominated only 3 candidates). However, independent candidates won the vast bulk of the votes and seats at the election, and another party, the Alliance for Progressive Government won more seats (3), despite getting a smaller share of the vote (14.6%).