‘Our mission is to get me elected as Chief Minister’

Deputy Sam M?ec, leader of Reform Jersey Picture: JAMES JEUNE (33661268)

DEPUTY Sam Mézec admits he is facing an uphill battle in his quest to become Chief Minister.

After his opponent, Deputy Kristina Moore, submitted a nominations paper backed by more than half of the Assembly, the writing appears to be on the wall.

It would be easy to back down and concede defeat in that situation – and perhaps the Sam Mézec that was first elected in 2014 would have considered doing just that.

But the Reform Jersey leader is a different prospect from the 23-year-old who entered the Assembly eight years ago.

For a start, Deputy Mézec is now joined in the Assembly by nine of his party colleagues while the centre-right parties struggled to make an impact at the election.

In what he describes as a ‘breakthrough election’ for his party, Deputy Mézec believes he now has the mandate to deliver the change the Island voted so emphatically for.

He said: ‘Jersey has always been described as a conservative island but it is not as conservative as some people think – there is a divide.

‘To not only increase our number of seats but to double them was a huge moment and clearly a vote of confidence from the public on what we stand for. Most importantly it comes, more broadly, in an election that was about change. It was not just that we did well, it was that the candidates that stood for the status quo did badly.’

Deputy Mézec, who topped the poll in St Helier South, said that his party can be ‘at the very least twice as effective’ as they were during the previous term of office.

‘We have had huge victories in the last Assembly on bus passes for students, for example. There were other things we came close with – two or three votes in it – such as free school meals and landlord licensing.

‘With more Members now, we have more talent and more power to be relentless in our push for measures that will improve people’s lives. Our focus will be on those issues – we will be bringing propositions forward to deliver on our aims,’ he said.

And he added that the party manifesto – released ahead of the election – was the ‘clearest vision’ set out before voters and he hopes the Assembly will be willing to listen to what he has to say when he presents his vision to Members tomorrow.

‘Our vision for government is the most credible based on our comprehensive election manifesto. It is based on policies that have already been tested, either in other jurisdictions or which have been examined by the Treasury Department and shown to be doable.

‘Our policy platform is the most credible and we are hoping that we can get that across.

‘There are individual politicians who are seen as popular and capable but independent candidates cannot possibly provide a coherent set of policies in the way that we have. One individual will not have enough manpower to do that.’

The 2022 election was seen by many to mark the start of party politics, but Reform Jersey remains the only party that can be confident of its future, after the Alliance Party, the Jersey Liberal Conservatives and the Progress Party only managed to gain four seats between them.

Deputy Mézec, however, believes the centre-right will regroup and that party politics remains the best way forward for Jersey politics.

‘The Alliance Party attempted to distance themselves from the record of the government, but they failed to do so because the record of the previous government was the record of the Alliance Party.

‘They were instrumental to the big problems of the government, none bigger than the response, or lack of response, to the housing crisis.

‘People appreciated the hard work Reform Jersey had put in to trying to come up with solutions in housing.

‘I am confident that party politics will remain. The three right-wing parties will have to do some thinking among themselves about how they organise themselves.

‘Reform Jersey’s first general election was not a good one for us. It has taken us a long time. We learnt from our mistakes in the past, which was why our campaign this time around was head and shoulders above other parties.’

He said that Reform Jersey would form an ‘inclusive government’, should Members elect him as Chief Minister, and added he is willing to talk to any Members about what they could bring to the table. He said the conversations he had already had with newly elected politicians had been positive, stating that ‘many Members have been impressed with our election victory and are pleased that there has been a progressive shift’.

‘It would not be a case of compromising on our ideas, but we would be open-minded to compromise with Members with better ideas.

‘I have openly said that I know I don’t have all the answers. If Members with talent and experience can offer credible alternatives, then we would by foolish not to speak to them.’

Despite Deputy Moore’s seemingly unassailable lead in the Chief Minister race, Deputy Mézec said that, for the time being, he is not thinking about potential government roles other than the campaign for the top job – ‘we are not entertaining the idea – the mission is to get me elected as Chief Minister’ – and he has not yet spoken to his opponent about how they may work together.

Deputy Mézec said that he has learnt from the agreement his party signed with John Le Fondré to support his bid for Chief Minister in 2018, and believes Reform Jersey were ‘too open-minded about the policies’.

‘A lot of the agreement was about working together to find solutions and put too much power in civil servants’ hands. This time around a lot of those issues we are much clearer on,’ he said.

He said any agreement to work with Deputy Moore would have to ‘depend on how committed she is to seeing real change’, and added that Reform Jersey’s previous stint in the Council of Ministers – when Deputy Mézec was Housing and Children’s Minister – had opened their eyes about the inner-workings of government.

‘We did say we wanted to play a constructive role in government, but if we are going to go back into government and we can achieve x, y, z but not other elements of our manifesto, then we would not necessarily just go for it. We’re not going to give up our principles for a fancy title,’ he said.

‘We [Deputy Mézec and Deputy Moore] have not had any in-depth conversations. From time-to-time we would work together during the last Assembly.

‘We are both people who approach politics with a professional approach and we can have frank conversations with one another. It does depend on what the programme of government is going to be.

‘When we moved into opposition we did actually become more effective in getting some policies accepted, like the bus passes and the social housing rent reform.’

He said that there was a risk that a Council of Ministers led by Deputy Moore would lead to a government similar to the one between 2014 and 2018, when Deputy Moore was last a minister in Ian Gorst’s team.

He added that the Council of Ministers between 2014 and 2018 was an ‘austerity government’ which brought forward a ‘cruel and callous package of policies’

‘We would have to decide if we want to come back and have a role in government. If not, then whoever is in government better be prepared to face extremely tough questions from Reform Jersey about their previous record,’ he said.

Whether Deputy Mézec, or any of his Reform Jersey colleagues, have a seat at the top table remains to be seen, but it is clear that whatever role they end up in they will not be fading into the background.

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