Elections are 14 months away, but knives are out

In this case, both scenarios apply. Because, love him or loathe him, Deputy Duhamel has a knack for getting his colleagues into a flap. Put the words ‘Duhamel’ and ‘no confidence’ in the archive of this newspaper and the results returned span five pages.

There are stories from 2007 when he was kicked out as the senior Scrutiny chairman after a vote of no confidence and there are multiple stories from recent months and years as the criticisms, questions and concerns have kept on coming.

There is more than one issue at play here. On the one hand Deputy Duhamel is something of an enigma – many other States Members just don’t get him and he kind of likes it that way. He also doesn’t do what he’s told by his fellow ministers simply because they tell him to, a trait that is known to frustrate some, inspire others and amuse countless more.

In addition, the Deputy isn’t afraid of voicing weird and wonderful ideas – remember the whole seaweed toothpaste idea and the suggestion that everyone with old, draughty windows in listed properties should put up blinds and shutters and curtains, perhaps even all together, to provide some comfort from the elements, as two examples.

Then there is the simple fact that Deputy Duhamel has perhaps the most controversial remit of all the ministers – planning. One day he’s too pro development, the next he’s giving former Deputy Daniel Wimberley a run for his money as the jolly green giant. And, almost all of the time, someone will think that he – just as they did with Senator Freddie Cohen before him and also with whoever comes after him as Planning Minister – is wrong.

All these issues, coupled with the fact that Deputy Duhamel does sometimes get it plainly and simply wrong, have led to where we are now – the circulation of a de facto petition to oust the Planning Minister being fronted by Deputies James Baker and Steve Luce and St Peter Constable John Refault.

However, the letter expressing dissatisfaction at the way the minister is running his department is, by all accounts, struggling to get support behind the scenes.

It is one thing gossiping in the coffee room (which incidentally I learnt this week is now locked on non-States days because Members clearly cannot be trusted not to gorge themselves on orange juice or sparkling water or whatever it is they have in there), but it appears it is quite another to actually get people to put their names to an all out attack on one of their colleagues.

Incidentally, it is also worth remembering that Deputy Duhamel is the longest serving Deputy currently in the House. First elected in 1993 he has been returned to the Assembly by the voting public no less than six times since. In that time many others have come and gone, many rows have been had, fall-outs witnessed and controversies exposed. There have been hirings and firings, ups and downs, committees and ministers and reform debate after reform debate.

Yet, Deputy Duhamel has survived it all and still topped the poll in St Saviour No 1 at the last election.

The Deputy is clearly more astute than some people give him credit for, or that he would have some believe. He’s also pretty battle-hardened and I’d be surprised if he went down without a fight.

Meanwhile, it is also worth remembered that the next election is just around the corner. Okay, so October 2014 is still 14 months away but in the world of politics that isn’t long to get your plays in order, your voice fine-tuned and your policies polished.

It is why at least one long-serving minister has already started umming and erring about if he will stand again (of course he will, he’s just planting the ‘I didn’t want to get in anyway’ seed just in case), it’s why ministers have begun to speed up their to-do lists and it is one of the reasons why letters have begun to circulate testing the water about a certain Environment Minister.

The failure of the States to implement April’s referendum result means that no one, politicians included, quite knows where they are going to stand come next year’s election.

For that reason we, the public, need to be even more aware about the manoeuvring going on both in front and behind the scenes, inside and outside the Chamber. Because it isn’t just our parish Deputies, a few Senators and the usual suspects that we need to keep a close eye on over the next 14 months.

Because, potentially, a reformed system could bring with it a whole host of new candidates plus, perhaps, completely new voting districts that will mean we have far more candidates to consider than ever before.

So just remember, the knives are already out in more ways than one.