THE move to party politics is gathering pace ahead of this summer’s general election, with one party to announce its leader – and choice for Chief Minister – within weeks, while another was due to be formally registered today.
With around six months until Islanders head to the polls, Jersey Alliance – which counts a number of current ministers among its ranks – has confirmed that a meeting will be held on 12 February to elect its leader.
And court documents have revealed that the Jersey Liberal Conservatives, which currently describes itself as a political movement rather than a fully fledged party, is due to appear before the Royal Court this morning to formally ratify its status as a party.
If approved by the court, the JLC – chaired by former Bailiff and External Relations Minister Sir Philip Bailhache – would become the fourth party to declare ahead of the election, which represents a marked shift in the traditional shape of Jersey politics.
In 2014, Reform Jersey, led by Senator Sam Mézec, was formed and, for many years, was the Island’s only political party. Reform Jersey currently has five elected Members with Deputies Montfort Tadier, Geoff Southern, Rob Ward and Carina Alves sitting in the Assembly, alongside Senator Mézec.
And last year, the Progress Party – comprising Senator Steve Pallett, Deputy Steve Luce and former Infrastructure Minister Eddie Noel – launched with the aim of fielding candidates in 2022.
Home Affairs Minister Gregory Guida, the chairman of Jersey Alliance, said that the meeting on 12 February to elect a leader marked the party’s move ‘into the next phase of its development’.
He said: ‘The party has attracted considerable support from people and organisations in Jersey and is confident of being able to field a slate of high-quality candidates at the election.’
The party has ten sitting Members, including Chief Minister John Le Fondré, as well as former political leader of the City of London Sir Mark Boleat. Both men could be considered as potential frontrunners in the party leadership race.
Sir Mark, Jersey Alliance policy director, said the party was at an advanced stage of preparing policies.
‘The Alliance’s policies will be evidence-based, joined up, fully thought through and will tackle the issues that concern the people of Jersey – high housing costs, education and skills, employment opportunities, population, healthcare, protection of the environment, climate change and also the way that the government and the States Assembly function,’ he added.
This year’s election will be the first contested under radical reforms of the composition of the States Assembly which were agreed last year.
Under the new voting structure, the Islandwide office of Senator will be scrapped. Instead, the Assembly will be made up the 12 parish Constables and 37 Deputies across nine newly formed districts.
