One senior minister warned that Senator Ian Gorst risked sparking a backlash if he reinstated his long-time political ally.
The Council is believed to be split down the middle on the question of whether the former Treasury Minister should return following the publication of a report by Jessica Simor QC into failings in the oversight of the Jersey Innovation Fund.
In a statement in the States last week about the report, Senator Gorst said that he would consider Senator Ozouf’s return to frontline politics. He also used the statement to reprimand Senators Alan Maclean and Lyndon Farnham.
The Chief Minister said that the Simor report showed that Senator Ozouf ‘wasn’t to blame for what happened’ and that he would ‘consult with ministerial colleagues about where Senator Ozouf might be able to come back into government’.
And he has suggested that he could create a brand new ministerial department for Senator Ozouf to lead.
Senator Ozouf resigned as an Assistant Chief Minister in the wake of a damning report by the Island’s Comptroller and Auditor General earlier this year.
Several people within government have told the JEP that any move to return Senator Ozouf to a senior ministerial position would be opposed, with one warning of a fierce backlash. They say that the Council of Ministers are almost evenly divided on whether he should return.
