The Jersey Democratic Alliance candidate, whose campaign had been sponsored by the Unite union, secured just 1,085 votes – more than 4,500 behind poll-topper Francis Le Gresley and 250 short of fourth-placed Gerard Baudains.
‘The result was greatly disappointing and demonstrates how far we have got to go to make people take politics more seriously,’ Deputy Southern said shortly after the final results were announced.
However, he was still in the mood for political point-scoring as he threw down the gauntlet to Senator-elect Le Gresley. ‘We ran a good campaign,’ he said. ‘I think what emerged at the hustings was that the candidates almost universally backed a slate of JDA policies in various ways.’
• More election stories in today’s JEP. Find out what poll-topper Francis Le Gresley had to say about his success and whether Stuart Syvret – whose departure from the States prompted the by-election – intends to try again next year.
