A FORMER Senator has launched a campaign to reinstate the office and have all politicians elected on an Islandwide mandate by 2026.
Ben Shenton, a former Health Minister, has lodged a petition which criticises electoral reforms agreed by the States Assembly last year.
When Islanders go to the polls in June, it will be the first general election under the newly reformed system. The Islandwide mandate of Senator has been scrapped and instead 37 Deputies will be elected across nine new voting districts alongside the 12 parish Constables.
Mr Shenton, in his petition, said: ‘What do you do if you want to represent the whole Island? Only one district will elect the Chief Minister. If a policy is great for the Island but detrimental to the Chief Minister’s district, where will loyalties lie – to the Island or to their electorate?’
He added that the district-led system means that every politician elected in June will have a mandate from a ‘minority of Islanders’ and questioned why some districts have differing numbers of representatives.
‘Why should people in the town get to elect four Deputies, while some country parishes can only elect three? If you want to support a political party, but they don’t put up any candidates in your district, do you not vote?’ he said.
The electoral reforms were finally agreed after decades of debate and were designed to improve voter representation across the Island. However, critics of the new system have said that it will not increase voter turnout and argued that the Islandwide mandate was the most democratically representative vote Islanders could cast and should not have been scrapped.
Guernsey moved to an islandwide voting system for the first time for its 2020 election with all voters having the chance to select up to 38 candidates.
This led to a record turnout in the island with almost 80% of the electoral roll casting their vote.
At the 2018 Jersey general election, voter turnout stood at 43.38% for the Islandwide Senatorial vote.
Mr Shenton added that should the all-Island mandate be agreed more parish responsibilities should be devolved to the Constable and all districts scrapped.
‘Election day is 22 June 2022. With this petition, let’s see if the All-Island Mandate can get more votes than any other candidate,’ he said.
By yesterday afternoon, the petition had gathered more than 200 signatures.
