FORMER States Member Gary Matthews, who served as a Deputy of St Brelade No 2 District between 1993 and 1996, has died in the UK at the age of 63.
Mr Matthews was educated at Hautlieu and then obtained a degree in politics from Warwick University. On returning to Jersey he worked in a variety of jobs and had a management position in the travel industry for some ten years.
Having had an interest in politics from a young age, Mr Matthews decided to stand for the States in November 1993. He had been active in green politics for a number of years, was a member of the Jersey Rights Association and was one of a group of concerned Islanders who had published ‘Notre Île – a Charter for Change’, a document which set out a new agenda for Jersey seeking to repair the damage done to the community and environment in the name of progress.
He made it clear during the election campaign that he wanted to see younger people in the States and felt that there was an imbalance in favour of wealthy and business candidates in the Assembly. He was keen to speak on behalf of ordinary people, families and pensioners and supported free prescriptions and health care for the elderly.
In the election on 24 November 1993 Mr Matthews topped the poll, gaining 744 votes and defeating Deputy Tom Jordan. He was one of ten new Deputies elected on that day, several of whom had stood on a strong environmental platform, with the JEP describing the results as a ‘swing to the young and green’ and a ‘vote for change’.
Mr Matthews sat in the States for the first time on 9 December 1993 and was immediately appointed as a member of the Public Services, État Civil and Sport, Leisure and Recreation committees. He also joined the newly-established Freedom of Information committee a few months later. As a member of the Public Services Committee he was given responsibility for recycling, which was then in its infancy in Jersey, and on the État Civil Committee he championed a change in the marriage laws to allow people to come to Jersey to get married.
He was a very active Member during his term of office and, in many ways, ahead of his time, pressing for the introduction of a Bill of Rights, supporting a social charter and working with Deputy Alastair Layzell on the formulation of Jersey’s first Green Budget. He was concerned about the nuclear facilities on the nearby French coast and asked a number of questions about this as well as questioning a range of committee presidents on issues such as gay rights, international conventions, electoral reform and race relations.
In 1996, Mr Matthews was one of a number of States Members who became concerned at the manner in which the proposals for a new Limited Liability Partnership law were being progressed. He tried, without success, to delay the debate on the proposed new law and when the States voted in September 1996 to suspend Senator Stuart Syvret from the States for allegations he had made about the role Senator Reg Jeune had played in relation to the law, Mr Matthews was one of the three members who voted against the suspension.
The following month, Mr Matthews stood for an Island-wide mandate in the Senatorial election, but was unsuccessful on election day, finishing in tenth place with 6,463 votes. He nevertheless decided to try to retain his Deputy’s seat in November 1996 by standing in St Helier No 3 District but he was again unsuccessful, finishing in fifth place.
After leaving the States Mr Matthews admitted that he struggled to find employment in Jersey and he moved to the UK where he spent the rest of his life.
He lost his sight in 2008 and became a passionate advocate of better rights for disabled people, commenting that they often suffered some of the worst discrimination of any group in society.
