JOHN Refault will be the next Constable of St Peter.
The Procureur du Bien Public and former Airport fire chief received 975 votes, beating sitting Deputy Collin Egré, who received 725 votes. Impatient supporters sang Why Are We Waiting? before Jurat Jean King read out the results from the parish hall balcony at 12.30 am.
On hearing the news that he had won, Mr Refault said: ‘I am ecstatic. It has been a hard slog with Collin being the sitting Deputy and I was really aware that I had a low public profile. The support team have been superb and the campaign well thought out. It was absolutely a surprise. My expectation was that it was going to be close. The lateness of the vote made me think there might be a recount.’
He said that sitting Constable Tom du Feu, who is stepping down from the States after 19 years service as a Deputy and Constable, had put down good foundations for him to build on. ‘Good initiatives have been started that I would be eager to move onwards,’ said the Constable-elect.
59-year-old Mr Refault worked as a firefighter at the Airport from 1974 to 2003, spending the last six years as chief officer. Since then he has worked with Broadlands Estates as a self-employed property negotiator. He served in the parish honorary police, helped at the youth club and, in 1986, formed the parish Battle of Flowers Association to produce the first parish entry in 26 years.
Deputy Egré said that he had been given ‘superb’ support and he thanked everyone for their help. 1,712 people voted for Constable in St Peter, representing 52.76 per cent of the 3,245 electorate. There were 12 spoilt papers.
Earlier in the evening, queues of people had wound around the parish hall but everyone who was in the line before 8 pm was allowed to vote. The polling station closed at 8.48 pm.
• Picture: A handshake between new Constable John Refault (left) and opponent Deputy Collin Egré
