The new Chief Minister must be able to lead a rabble of 51, each with their own priorities

Because never before has the States of Jersey needed someone to grab the bull by the horns and give it a hefty smack to the rear.

You could go as far as to say that Jersey politics has hit crisis point. There are rumours that more than 80 per cent of States Members are unhappy with the system, with policy and with the recent goings-on in the Chamber (100 per cent might be more accurate).

Scrutiny members are resigning, there are calls for change left right and centre and our dear politicians are turning on each other like hungry lions in a world without zebras.

And that’s before we even get started on what we Islanders, the people that matter most, think.

A pre-election survey undertaken recently by this paper has revealed, perhaps unsurprisingly, that Islanders have had enough. We have had enough of feeling let down, undervalued and ignored. We have had enough of petty squabbling, personal attacks and time wasting.

Now it is time to get down to business and get the States of Jersey ship back on course, and fast.

So, where do we start? Radical shake-ups? A whole new system? Simple tweaking of what we already have?

Do we scrap Scrutiny, change Scrutiny or just leave it be? Should Ministers have less power, more power, or should we get rid of them altogether? The list goes on and on.

And herein lies the problem – there are too many questions and no simple answers.

So, like I said, Jersey’s next Chief Minister had better be up for a challenge.

There will, of course, be highs – like those experienced recently when the Island got its first-ever discrimination law (and, shock horror, States Members were in unanimous agreement) or when civil partnerships were finally made legal.

But then there will be the lows. How much taxpayers’ money did you blow, Chief Minister? Who made that decision, Chief Minister? And why was that allowed to happen, for example.

And I guarantee that it will be the lows that they are remembered for.

So the Island’s next top politician will have to be thick-skinned. They will also have to have a trick or two up their sleeves to ensure that things don’t just coast along as they have in the past.

But, crucially, they will need to be able to lead a rabble of 51 individuals who each have differing ideologies, priorities and allegiances.

Because what the States of Jersey needs most right now is co-operation. There is no point in even beginning to work out what the ‘big questions’ are, let alone considering how to go about answering them, until our elected politicians have figured out how they can work together to ensure the best for our Island.

That, of course, doesn’t mean agreeing all the time, but agreeing how to disagree and how those varied viewpoints can shape States policy for the better.

Then, and only then, can the real work begin.

HOME Affairs Minister Ian Le Marquand deserves a big fat pat on the back this week.

Not only did he become the first person to declare his intention to stand for Chief Minister in the autumn (citing the importance of voters being given the chance to quiz election candidates on their preference for the top job), but he has also proved that he wont let a spot of playground bullying get him down.

Okay, so he may bear a passing resemblance to a certain hapless TV character played by Rowan Atkinson, but that isn’t the point.

What matters is a) that the public got to see what some States Members are really like (did I hear someone say election? October?) and b) that Senator Le Marquand didn’t rise to the bait.

Because when Deputy Shona Pitman referred to him as ‘Mr Bean’ in an email to all States Members last week it went down like a lead balloon. If she was trying to be funny, it didn’t work.

The email was leaked to the JEP, Chief Minister Terry Le Sueur condemned the Deputy’s behaviour and even Senator Terry Le Main, himself no stranger to the wrong side of appropriate, wasn’t amused.

But Senator Le Marquand didn’t let it get to him. Instead, his response when asked by the JEP was to laugh it off with a comment about no longer having ‘the hair’.

It just goes to show that not all our politicians will let themselves get dragged down into petty squabbles and personal attacks.

While it was clearly a bad week for Deputy Shona Pitman, her other half, Deputy Trevor Pitman, faired slightly better, despite jumping to his wife’s defence in the ‘Mr Bean’ saga.

His saving grace was a proposition lodged on Wednesday to make the ballot for the appointment of a new Chief Minister open.

If adopted by Members when they return from the summer break on 13 September, the move would mean that the voting public would get to find out who voted for who and, importantly, if the people we voted in stuck to their pre-election promises on the issue.

In the past, the ballot has always been secret, but this does nothing for openness and transparency within government.

Instead, Members would be well advised to take note of what the public want – to feel valued and important – and adopt this proposal with a matter of urgency.

Sure, in the grand scheme of things it won’t solve everything, but it just might be the first stepping stone on the road to re-establishing some respect from the public.