THE Jersey Alliance has no current plans to fold – despite losing its only elected member – its former leader has said.
Sir Mark Boleat, who said his role as party leader ceased to exist after the election, admitted that the results had been ‘heard loud and clear’ but that discussions as to whether the Alliance would disband were ‘premature’.
Despite fielding 14 candidates at last month’s general election, only Trinity Constable Philip Le Sueur successfully gained a seat in the new Assembly and he faced no opponent. But Mr Le Sueur has now confirmed that he has left the party, meaning it has no representatives in the Chamber.
He said: ‘I have left the Alliance party by mutual agreement. I was not going to sit in the Assembly as a sole voice for the party – my declaration of States Members’ interests, when it is updated, will say I am now an independent.
‘I was disappointed that the party did not take off and I really did not see any purpose in pursuing it. What might happen over the next four years and when we get to the next election – who knows?’
The day after the election, Mr Le Sueur jokingly told the JEP that he appeared to be the ‘independent member of the Jersey Alliance’ – but stressed that he had ‘no plans to jump ship’.
The Alliance party fielded several high-profile candidates at the election – including former Chief Minister John Le Fondré and former Home Affairs Minister Gregory Guida – but were dealt a series of blows as Islanders overwhelmingly rejected the party.
Sir Mark, who was Alliance’s Chief Minister candidate, admitted that the lessons were ‘very clear to us’.
He said: ‘We understand the results of the election. Voters did not like parties much and they did not like our party in particular.
‘What we wanted to do was still absolutely valid – we wanted to produce evidence-based policies and present ourselves as a team but that was not what the electorate wanted.
‘Voters preferred people who are independent but if you vote for independents you have no idea exactly what you will get and we will wait and see what policies the new Council of Ministers will come up with.’
He added that it would be ‘silly’ to make a quick decision in the immediate aftermath of an election.
‘In terms of what the party will do, we will let the dust settle a little bit. We have had some discussions but no formal decision has been made and I don’t expect one for some time,’ he said.
