Act of Tynwald which replaced the self-selecting House of Keys with an elected chamber.

Before 1866 vacancies in the twenty-four-member House were filled through nomination by the remaining Keys and selection by the Governor. The 1866 Act changed that structure by making membership dependent on election by voters in the sheadings and towns.

The six sheadings each returned three members. Douglas returned three, while Castletown, Peel and Ramsey returned one member each, preserving the total of twenty-four. The House was elected for seven years unless dissolved sooner.

The Act’s own printed title described it as “An Act to render the House of Keys elective; and for other purposes”. An authorised edition was printed in Douglas in 1866 by H. Curphey of the Manx Sun Office in King Street.

The first dissolution under the new system followed the procedure laid down in section 138 of the Act. Later constitutional discussion repeatedly referred to the powers given to the Lieutenant-Governor to summon the Keys and to questions about the relationship between the elected House and the executive.

The franchise created in 1866 remained restricted and was altered by later legislation. The House of Keys Election Act 1881 expanded and reorganised voter qualifications, so the 1866 settlement should be understood as the beginning of an elected Keys rather than the creation of universal suffrage.