Nine of Senator John Le Fondré’s ten ministerial choices were confirmed yesterday – with only Senator Sarah Ferguson losing out in the election for Health Minister.
Instead, Deputy Richard Renouf will take on the Health portfolio – with the new hospital project due to be one of the biggest items on his agenda.
Chief Minister-designate John Le Fondré beat Senator Gorst to the Chief Minister’s job earlier this week but immediately offered the outgoing Chief Minister the External Relations post with a specific remit to focus on Brexit. Senator Gorst was the first minister selected during yesterday’s States sitting and was elected unopposed.
The early part of the sitting went to plan for Senator Le Fondré after Deputy Susie Pinel and Senator Tracey Vallois were both elected unopposed to the Treasury and Education posts respectively.
However, in the first contested election, Deputy Renouf, a former chairman of the Health and Social Security Scrutiny Panel, beat Senator Ferguson by 27 votes to 21.
There were just three contested elections, with Senator Steve Pallett losing by two votes to Deputy Kevin Lewis in the race to become Infrastructure Minister.
And Environment Minister Steve Luce was ousted from his seat at the Council of Ministers’ table by an even tighter margin. He lost out to Deputy John Young by 24 votes to 23.
When Senator Le Fondré unveiled his preferred ministerial team on Wednesday there was no room for Senator Kristina Moore, despite her second-place finish in the Islandwide vote, with St Clement Constable Len Norman being preferred for the Home Affairs role she has held for the past four years. Mr Norman was elected unopposed yesterday in the final decision of the day.
In a statement ahead of the ministerial elections yesterday, Senator Moore said that she would not be challenging for one of the top jobs in politics because she believed that Chief Ministers should be able to shape their own team.
She said: ‘It was a great honour to be elected by 15,292 people last month. This was an historic moment for Jersey to return two women at the top of the poll.
‘Whilst I would have welcomed the opportunity to serve as a minister, I respect the vote of the new Assembly and I believe that Senator Le Fondré should be able to shape his own team.
‘On reflection, I feel that my skills can be better used on Scrutiny, where I can ensure that the government acts in Jersey’s best interests.’
Instead, Senator Moore, who served her first term on Scrutiny, said she would seek to be chairman of the Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel and president of the Chairman’s Committee.
Economic Development Minister Lyndon Farnham was the only member of the previous Council of Ministers to stay in his role, while Deputy Judy Martin will be Social Security Minister and Senator Sam Mézec will be Housing Minister. All three were elected unopposed.
Senator Le Fondré has already indicated his desire to create a Children’s Minister, a role which he would like Senator Mézec to undertake, and an International Relations post to build on the work of Jersey Overseas Aid, which he wants Deputy Carolyn Labey to hold.
Deputy Labey will be an Assistant Chief Minister in the meantime, alongside Constables Chris Taylor and Richard Buchanan. Senator Vallois will be Deputy Chief Minister.
The States was due to reconvene today to elect Scrutiny Panel chairmen and women.
