Any number from one to eight would have sufficed in the Senatorial race, but in the event he had to make do with 11th place – three off securing a seat – as his political stock sunk.
Despite vacating his position as a Deputy of St Clement to stand for Senator, Deputy Brée insists he has no regrets.
‘I don’t have any regrets at all. It was very close when you look at the number of votes involved,’ says the 56-year-old, who amassed 10,529 votes on the night – only 478 votes off the eighth Senatorial seat that Senator-elect Sam Mézec snuck into.
‘I was just unfortunate I was not able to convince more of the electorate that I was the right person to be a Senator.’
Deputy Brée, who worked in the finance industry for 25 years – including for the stock market index Dow Jones – adds: ‘Obviously I’m disappointed, but the difference between my votes and [Senator-elect Mézec’s] eighth place wasn’t that great, so while I am disappointed, I’m not disheartened.’
Asked why he decided to run for Senator in the first place, he said: ‘I felt that as a backbench Deputy it was very difficult to get one’s views heard.
‘And even though a lot of work we did on Scrutiny did influence policy to a small extent, I felt that going for an Islandwide mandate would allow me to influence policy more.’
Where then, does he think it went wrong?
‘I honestly don’t know – it’s just one of those things.’
On the night, Deputy Brée was one of only two States Members who lost their place in the States – the other being Juliette Gallichan – although in Deputy Brée’s case, he vacated his seat in order to run for Senator.
‘I didn’t stand as Deputy, so actually I didn’t lose my seat,’ points out Deputy Brée, who believes that newcomer Lindsay Ash, who was elected alongside Deputy Susie Pinel, would do well to involve himself in Scrutiny panels right from the off.
‘I would advise any first-term Deputy to throw himself into Scrutiny – you learn a hell of a lot,’ says Deputy Brée, who during his four years in the Chamber served on seven Scrutiny committee panels, including the Privileges and Procedures Committee, the Brexit Review Panel and the Economic Affairs Panel.
‘You have the opportunity to hold ministers to account and you have the opportunity to possibly influence policy before draft legislation gets to the States’ Assembly. Scrutiny is a great learning curve.’
What then, did he learn from being on those scrutiny panels?
‘You learn how the States works internally – how the departments work and who are the best people to speak to. It’s like learning a new job – you can’t go in at the top and you have to learn the ropes.’
He had signalled an intention to take the top job if the circumstances were right on election night – even issuing a press release during his campaign stating his interest in the position of Chief Minister.
‘What I said was, if I get elected and if the electorate through their vote show they are looking for a change in Chief Minister, then I would stand for Chief Minister.
‘The reason I did that was because we weren’t having any debate whatsoever at the hustings or anywhere else on who the next Chief Minister was going to be if various people were elected. I felt it was important to get that debate going and that’s part of the reason I did it – and it certainly did [get the debate going].’
During his election campaign Deputy Brée – who in 2016 was one of three States Members who voted against the planned site for the new hospital and was also chairman of the Future Hospital Review Panel – made clear he fully supported an independent review into where the new hospital should be built.
Does he feel this stance had a bearing on his failure to secure a senatorial seat?
‘No, not at all. We need to have some form of independent review – even if it does come out that the existing site is the best site for the new hospital – because a lot of people are saying that £26 million has been spent and we have not got anything for it.
‘There’s going to be another independent planning inquiry into the [site of the new hospital] which won’t start until September at the earliest. Between now and then, surely the States can carry out an independent review to ensure that this is the best site?’
As for the best option for his future career path, Deputy Brée, who will continue to officially be a States Member until the new House is sworn-in, says he will keep one eye on the shifting sands of the political landscape.
‘In terms of politics I don’t have anything firm at the moment, but as things stand today, I fully intend to stand for election in 2022.’
Four years, I put it to him, is a long time in – or out – of politics.
‘Yes it is very long and we don’t know what is going to change. It [his political involvement] depends on what the political landscape looks like in four years’ time. If electoral reform goes through, we’ll be looking at super constituencies.’
Can he foresee a future with party politics? ‘Stranger things have happened, but I think Jersey is too small for proper party politics. OK, we do have Reform Jersey who are very clear in their views, and you then have other, loose coalitions.
‘They are coalitions of people working together who have a common aim, but may disagree on a number of points. I think [Jersey’s political system] will probably move more towards that than actual party politics.’
For the time being Deputy Brée, who lives in St Clement with his wife Nicki and has two grown-up children – Claire (24) and Matt (21) – has plenty to keep him occupied.
‘I’ve been catching up with all the household chores, paperwork and things like that, which I haven’t been doing for the last few weeks. I’m currently renovating my house, so that’s going to take up a bit of time.
‘And my wife runs her own music consultancy business, so I’m probably going to be helping her out with running it.’
Time will tell if this likeable businessman will have reason to record a victory song when the election rolls around again in four years’ time.
