A CANDIDATE hoping to become St Mary’s next Constable has pulled out of the election race for ‘family reasons’.
Mark Baker, who was one of three who had put themselves forward for the seat, said that he was ‘gutted’ to have to withdraw but said ‘I need to put my family first’.
Sitting Constable John Le Bailly is not seeking re-election, but parish Deputy David Johnson is shifting his focus to the Constable’s seat and will now compete for the position against Mike Fennell.
Mr Baker is due to have his candidacy formally withdrawn in the Royal Court this morning.
He said: ‘It is down to personal family reasons and nothing else.
‘The campaign is taking me away from the people who need me at an important time and I need to put my family first. The most important thing to me is my family.’
Mr Baker – a former JEP Pride of Jersey Award finalist – campaigned to become a Deputy for St Mary in 2018, losing out to Deputy Johnson.
The motivational speaker said that his withdrawal was down to ‘bad timing unfortunately’ but that he intended to put himself forward again.
‘I am really disappointed I won’t get to stand as I was looking forward to hopefully serving my parish for the next four years.
‘I love the parish – my family has deep roots here and this was my opportunity to do something for the parish.
‘I fully intend to stand when the opportunity arises again.’
The hustings featuring St Mary’s Constable candidates is due to be held at 7pm on Thursday at the parish hall, before parishioners go to the polls on 22 June.
As part of the redesign of the electoral districts in the Island, St Mary now forms part of a super-constituency with St Peter and St Ouen. Four Deputy seats are available, with Senators Kristina Moore, Ian Gorst and Lyndon Farnham, Jersey Alliance member Deputy Rowland Huelin, JEP assistant editor Lucy Stephenson, Reform Jersey’s Helen Evans and Jersey Liberal Conservatives candidate David Benn hoping to be elected.
