00:00Okay, so with Dr. Michelle Hayward, election candidate in Russian, former government minister,
00:08have you enjoyed the election process? I think you'd have to be some sort of insane to enjoy
00:13an election process. It's like the worst job interview you ever, ever do. It's pretty full
00:18on, isn't it? Yeah, it has. It's been weeks of door knocking and canvassing and then a really
00:25long day today, sort of greeting people as they come in to vote. Is there not any part
00:29of it that you find enjoyable? Oh no, I love the conversations on the doorstep and I wish
00:33I had more time to do that and I think the sad reality is once you get into House of
00:39Keys and you start getting involved in department work and government work and the parliamentary
00:44side of things that you get much less time to be able to do that sort of connection with
00:49the people that you represent. It's a tough job, isn't it? It is. And even more of a tough
00:53job being involved in government. Yeah, it is. And I think, you know, with such a small
00:59number of MHKs, you need people to get involved in government, even if they're not at the level
01:05of ministers, they need to be department members because otherwise departments don't function
01:08properly. What were the main issues that you encountered on the doorstep?
01:15Unfounded fear over immigration came up quite a lot and a lot of misinformation out there that's
01:20been spread around and I really regret the people that I've met who are, have been here
01:25and have had leave to be here for sometimes, you know, decades who are fearful that actually
01:31we might suddenly throw them out of their homes and send them back to some country they've
01:35not lived in for 20 plus years. I think that's unfounded and I think there are some people
01:40saying, well, you know, talk about asylum seekers. We don't have asylum seekers here on the
01:45island. It's just a nonsense story. But it creates fear and it manipulates people with fear.
01:49Do you think government should have been clearer on these issues to put to bed?
01:55I think they've tried, but I think you've seen, you know, throughout this process there
01:59are some candidates who've tried to play on that fear and it's an imported narrative from
02:03the UK. It doesn't reflect the reality in the Isle of Man.
02:06Yeah. I'll ask you about 20 mile an hour.
02:10Came off a few times.
02:11Yeah, we've got 20 mile an hour zone in Portsmouth and that's been working?
02:16It's working well. It was signed off by the previous minister. So although it landed and
02:20the signs went up during my time, it was actually signed off by Mr Crouckle when he was minister
02:24for the, I don't know, second or third time, you know, second time probably.
02:28Do you think that's the issue that probably...
02:32No, actually I've found, I've encountered people certainly up at Brada and around Balafesson
02:37who want an extension to the 20 miles an hour that are already there because actually they
02:41see speed past their homes as one of the big factors that makes them feel unsafe in the
02:45areas they live in. So I've actually seen, I've had a few pushbacks from people and things,
02:50but I think you have to realise the position that even as a government minister is that
02:54if our democratically elected parliament, Tim Ward, has said, do this thing, then actually
03:00you should do that thing. And it's not for ministers to turn around and say, no, I'm not.
03:06You know, you occasionally get them people who say, oh yes, but that was the defence of,
03:10I don't know, people in Nazi death camps saying I was just following orders. I'm not following
03:14orders, I'm following the democratically elected will of Tim Ward, which should be the highest
03:18authority in the land. It was Tim Ward twice over. Tim Ward resolution twice over which you were
03:24implementing. Yeah, I just happened to be the minister at the point when the DOI were ready
03:28to implement it and stuff like that. But you know, it is what it is. So how do you think
03:32it
03:33will go tonight? I have no idea. I'm the worst judge ever of how my performance is and where things
03:40are at. I've had lots of positive comments on the doorstep. I've had lots of positive comments
03:44today from people and thank everyone who has turned out to vote because I think that the
03:48turnout has been relatively good all day. And it's lovely to see that many people engaging
03:53in the democratic process. Very good. We'll find out later. Indeed. Thank you.
