- Procureurs elected in St Helier and Grouville
- Both elections took place on Wednesday evening
- What is a Procureur du Bien Public? Find out more below
Ex-parish secretary wins big in Grouville
FORMER parish secretary Peter Falle triumphed in the Grouville Procureur’s election last night, gaining more than four times the votes of challenger John Dix.
Mr Falle, who served for 24 years as the parish secretary before retiring in December last year, received 373 votes, compared with the 83 votes won by Mr Dix, an IT consultant and Grouville honorary policeman.
In what was the first contested election for the office of Procureur du Bien Public in Grouville in recent memory, 13 per cent of parishioners turned out to vote.
- Procureur du bien public means attorney of the public good.
- Procureurs are the financial representatives of the parish the parish chancellor.
- They are two elected in each parish for a term of three years.
- Since 2003, in accordance with the Public Elections (Amendment) (Jersey) Law 2003, they are elected at a public election.
- Before that, they were elected by a show of hands at a parish assembly.
Mr Falle was joined at the parish hall by his wife Carol, daughters Holly and Hannah, son-in-law Tony and grandson Louis.
When the parish’s latest elected member is sworn in before the Royal Court tomorrow, he will take the place of Walter Labey, who will retire after serving the parish in various roles for 50 years – including 18 as Procureur.
Mr Falle will hold the office for three years and will work with Grouville’s second Procureur, Bernard Rebours.
Speaking after the result, which was announced by Jurat Charles Blampied at just before 8.30 pm, Mr Falle thanked his family and friends for the support that he had received in the run-up to the election.
‘I’m absolutely elated,’ he added. ‘It’s fantastic that people have shown their trust in me and voted for me.
‘It’s a great feeling.
‘You are baring your soul and letting people pass judgment on you, and I am honoured that they have shown faith in me.
‘It’s a historical and ancient office going back a couple of hundred of years, and I am delighted to be part of it.
Speaking about his new role, Mr Falle said: ‘It’s a team situation and I very much look forward to working with the Constable and the other Procureur to ensure that we look after what we have and that we deal with things in a reasonable way.’
Grouville will have its next Procureur election when Mr Rebours’s term of office comes to an end in 18 months’ time.
Low turn-out mars Procureur election
A VERY low turn-out marred an election victory for the sitting candidate who yesterday retained a position likened to being the ‘Deputy Constable’ in St Helier.
Just 1.18 per cent of the town electorate voted as Peter Pearce was returned to the role of Procureur du Bien Public – a legal and financial representative for the parish.
Mr Pearce, who has served a three-year term in the position, won 140 votes, beating rival candidate Geraint Jennings, who gained 79.
St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft was dismayed at the lack of public interest and suggested that reforms to the system to elect Procureurs had been damaging to the election process.
Recent changes have moved the election from a parish assembly-style meeting to a general election-style public ballot.
Mr Crowcroft said: ‘Because the Procureurs now have an enhanced role – they deputise for the Constable if they’re away – the new system was designed to be more democratic.
‘But I have been to many very lively procureur election meetings which had turn-out at about this level, with people who really care about the parish.
‘There were greater opportunities to question the candidates under the former system – they had a hustings for this, but only one person turned up.’
‘The question is whether the previous system is any less democratic than what we had today – and I’m not sure it is.’
Mr Pearce, a semi-retired businessman, criticised a perceived lack of press coverage for the low turn-out.
He said: ‘Due to a lack of media interest it’s almost run in secret, even though it’s an election for the second most important position in the parish.’
Mr Jennings suggested that greater devolution of power to St Helier and the simplification of the structure of the parish authority could help to generate more interest in the election.
Each parish in Jersey has two Procureurs, who are voted for in staggered elections every 18 months.
