But they won’t officially be representing us until the new House is convened on 14 November. In the meantime, there will be one last sitting of the current Assembly starting on 1 November.
During that meeting everything from providing a Hoppa bus service in town to making it a requirement for drivers to pass a theory test before they are granted a provisional licence and the future role of the Jersey Business Venture will be up for debate.
Importantly, Members will also be asked to adopt the Budget for next year, which includes plans for tax thresholds to go up in line with inflation, doubling the cap on childcare tax relief and five per cent rises in duty on alcohol and tobacco.
So can you see why I’m confused? Members who could be out of a job come November will be making political decisions that will affect not only the Islanders they represent (or used to), but also potentially their successors.
For those that are staying it is fine, but what about those who have failed to get re-elected?
It is a bit like being sacked and then made to work your notice period, and raises the question about how much their hearts will be in it. Will they be fully focused on the important decisions or just eager to get it over and done with so they can get on with the rest of their lives.
Is it right that the people the public have said they don’t want to represent them any more will still be making our decisions?
As I said, I’m puzzled. What does the ‘notice period’ achieve? Why do we have those few weeks of limbo?
Surely the better way would be to plan ahead and ensure that there are no States sittings in between the election and the convening of the new House.
Also, the Budget debate should have been brought forward to ensure that such an important piece of work had no chance of being caught up in this weird situation.
You can’t expect new Members to make such Budget decisions in their first weeks as politicians, but it needs to be done by the end of the year. So why not bring it forward?
Planning ahead isn’t something that the States is well-known for, but maybe this is an example of why it should be doing it better.
The past week’s Senatorial hustings have been quite enlightening. A veritable feast of sweeping statements, far flung promises and political aspirations.
It began slowly, with a rather mute affair at St Clement’s but warmed up throughout the week, as did the candidates.
In fact, some of them became so well rehearsed in the ways of Jersey politics over those three days that their speeches were almost unrecognisable by the time they stepped over the threshold at Grouville parish hall on Thursday.
Two in particular seemed to have completely transformed themselves from everyday Islanders with an ‘interest’ in local politics to highly knowledgeable, eloquent candidates who could rattle off lists of credible policies and approaches they would pursue if elected to the States.
The problem was, I wasn’t convinced that they had had an epiphany in the 48-hours since they gave their first speech and neither were they.
More than once both gave themselves away by stumbling over words and sentences as if they hadn’t even bothered to read through the speech they had been handed hours earlier by one of their supporters. You’d have thought they would have at least bothered to make it sound as if it was their work and not someone else’s. And like they knew what they were talking about.
Because, you see, it is a fine line between having help from your supporters and surrendering yourself to them like you are the puppet and they your master.
While it is unfair on voters to present yourself as an independent candidate standing on your own platform, your own policies and your own beliefs, it also shows blatant disrespect for yourself, your integrity and your honesty.
The public aren’t stupid, so don’t treat us like we are. And it does nothing for the reputation of politicians, or honest aspiring ones, who have enough problems convincing the public of their transparency and openness already.
Hustings are a great way to get to know candidates and feel fully informed before you tick those boxes on 19 October. A lot of really good speeches are made, questions answers and some of it is even quite inspiring at times.
But I would urge Islanders to also read between the lines. Pay attention to reports of previous meetings as well as going along to your own parish, checking out the candidates on the internet and, crucially, watch what is going on around you.
If, for example, you do attend a hustings, watch what is happening on the side-lines, not just the person speaking at the time. Keep an eye out for who is communicating with whom, who is supporting who and what the candidates are doing when they aren’t the one in the spotlight.
Trust me, not only is it informative it is also quite entertaining too.
On a final note, I’d like to publically commend Senatorial candidate Darius Pearce for going against his promise to boycott the hustings and turning up in Grouville.
After phone calls from parishioners in St Peter, where he didn’t attend on Wednesday, the jewellery shop owner said he had ‘been wrong’ not to go. And he even gave a speech, an off-the-cuff one that could only have been of his own making.
