# Garff

54°15′40″N 4°23′49″W﻿ / ﻿54.261°N 4.397°W﻿ / 54.261; -4.397
Garff (Manx: Garff) is one of the six sheadings of the Isle of Man.
It is located on the east of the island (part of the traditional South Side division) and consists of the two historic parishes of Lonan and Maughold. Before 1796 it also included the parish of Onchan.
Administratively, since May 2016 the sheading of Garff has been covered by a single Garff local authority, a parish district, formed by merging the former village district of Laxey with the parish districts of Lonan and Maughold.
The town of Ramsey, which is administered separately, covers areas of two historic parishes (Maughold, and Lezayre in the sheading of Ayre). It is treated as part of Garff for some purposes, e.g. the coroner.
Other settlements in the sheading include Baldrine and Ballabeg (both in the parish of Lonan), and Ballure in the parish of Maughold.

## Etymology

The origin of the name is uncertain. Kneen (1925) suggests that it derives from the Norse gröf (N.B. not grðf, which is a typo there), meaning a pit or ravine (cognate with "grave").

## MHKs and elections

Garff is also a House of Keys constituency (excluding (most of) Onchan). It was originally a three-seat constituency, but this was reduced to two seats in 1893 and one seat in 1986. Until 2016 it was heavily under-represented by having only a single MHK. However in the 2016 general election it elected 2 MHKs (the new constituency also includes the (sparsely populated) parish of Onchan, i.e. excluding the village of Onchan).
| Year | Election | Turnout | Candidates |
| 1867 | General Election | No information available | No information available |
| 1875 | General Election | No information available | No information available |
| 1881 | General Election | John Allen Mylrea elected, no other information available | John Allen Mylrea elected, no other information available |
| 1886 | General Election | John Allen Mylrea elected, no other information available | John Allen Mylrea elected, no other information available |
| 1891 | General Election | John Allen Mylrea elected, no other information available | John Allen Mylrea elected, no other information available |
| 1896 | General Election | John Allen Mylrea elected, no other information available | John Allen Mylrea elected, no other information available |
| 1900 | By-Election | Due to the resignation of J. A. Mylrea, no other information available | Due to the resignation of J. A. Mylrea, no other information available |
| 1903 | General Election | | John Robert Kerruish, elected unopposed John Killip, elected unopposed |
| By-election called following the resignation of John Killip ||||
| 1908 | By-Election | | Robert Kerruish, elected unopposed |
| No information available on unsuccessful candidates from 1908-1985 ||||
| 1908 | General Election | | John Robert Kerruish, 468 votes, elected Robert Kerruish, 407 votes, elected |
| 1913 | General Election | No information available | No information available |
| 1919 | General Election | No information available | No information available |
| 1924 | General Election | | Thomas Callow, elected Walter Cowin, elected |
| 1929 | General Election | | Thomas Callow, elected Walter Cowin, elected |
| 1934 | General Election | | Thomas Callow, elected Walter Cowin, elected |
| 1946 | General Election | | Sir Charles Kerruish, elected |
| 1951 | General Election | | Sir Charles Kerruish, elected Annie Bridson, elected |
| 1956 | General Election | | Sir Charles Kerruish, elected |
| 1962 | General Election | | Sir Charles Kerruish, elected Eric Moore, elected |
| 1966 | General Election | | Sir Charles Kerruish, elected Jean Thornton-Duesbery, elected |
| 1971 | General Election | | Sir Charles Kerruish, elected Jean Thornton-Duesbery, elected |
| 1976 | General Election | | Sir Charles Kerruish, elected Lieutenant Colonel Dr Edgar Mann, elected |
| 1981 | General Election | | Sir Charles Kerruish, elected Lt Col Dr Edgar Mann, elected |
| By-election called following the elevation of Edgar Mann to the Legislative Council ||||
| 1985 | By-Election | | James Harris Kneale BA, elected |
| Garff loses the District of Onchan and becomes a single seat constituency ||||
| 1986 | General Election | 79% | Sir Charles Kerruish (1113 votes, elected) Lt Col Dr Edgar Mann (889 votes) |
| By-election called following the election of Sir Charles Kerruish as President of Tynwald and thus his elevation to the Legislative Council ||||
| 1990 | By-Election | 59.6% | Lt Col Dr Edgar Mann (648 votes, elected) James McKenzie (293 votes) D Corlett (252 votes) D Robertson (198 votes) |
| 1991 | General Election | 64% | Lt Col Dr Edgar Mann (899 votes, elected) James McKenzie (444 votes) Harry Wade (376 votes) |
| By-election called following the re-elevation of Edgar Mann to the Legislative Council ||||
| 1995 | By Election | 61.7% | Steve Rodan (562 votes, elected) Faragher (462 votes) James McKenzie (319 votes) Andrew Smith (228 votes) Sharpe (71 votes) |
| 1996 | General Election | 64.5% | Steve Rodan (1257 votes, elected) James McKenzie (473 votes) Kenneth Morkille (52 votes) |
| 2001 | General Election | 63.7% | Steve Rodan (1176 votes, elected) Marianne Kerruish (809 votes) |
| 2006 | General Election | | Steve Rodan (1400 votes, elected) Nigel Dobson (524 votes) |
| 2011 | General Election | | Steve Rodan (1725 votes, elected) Nigel Dobson (136 votes) |
| Garff becomes a two-seat constituency ||||

## Election results since 2016

In 2014, Tynwald approved recommendations from the Boundary Review Commission which saw the reform of the Island's electoral boundaries.
General election 2021: Garff :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | Daphne Hilary Penelope Caine | 1,122 | 23.4 |
| | Independent | Andrew Joseph Smith | 1,112 | 23.2 |
| | Manx Labour | Gareth Young | 1,021 | 21.3 |
| | Independent | Martyn Jones Perkins | 971 | 20.2 |
| | Independent | Jamie Smith | 576 | 12.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 4,802 | |
| Total ballots | Total ballots | Total ballots | 2,718 | |
| Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | 7 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,725 | 51.5 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 5,292 | |
General election 2016: Garff :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | Martyn John Perkins | 1,767 | 36.4 |
| | Independent | Daphne Hilary Penelope Caine | 1,270 | 26.1 |
| | Independent | Andrew Joseph Smith | 1,247 | 25.7 |
| | Independent | Andrew Barton | 346 | 7.1 |
| | Independent | Nigel Anthony Dobson | 231 | 4.8 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 4,861 | |
| Total ballots | Total ballots | Total ballots | 2,510 | |
| Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | 13 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,523 | 49.8 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 5,069 | |