THE revelation that five of 12 Island roads committees are entirely male has kick-started a “wider conversation” around gender representation in parish politics.
Deputy Montfort Tadier’s written question to the chair of the Constables’ Committee exposed that all five members of the St Clement, St Ouen, St Peter, St Saviour, and Trinity roads committees were male – and two elected members are women out of a total of 36 available positions in Jersey.
One of those two female roads committee members, Jenny Cartwright in St Lawrence, said it was beneficial to have women on the committee, bringing different skills and ideas.
But she has described to the JEP how she found it “daunting” at first to sit on a male-dominated panel. Deputy Tadier said that it had been suggested to him that “there’s something of an old-boys’ network that runs in a lot of the parishes”.
Former Deputy Jennifer Bridge has also told of how she faced difficulty when running for election, adding that parishes should “actively seek out new candidates” to rectify an imbalance.
However, several Constables who sit on all-male committees said they saw no problem with the current make-up and added that elected positions were open to everyone.
Richard Honeycombe, Constable of St Ouen, went so far as to say he had “never given any thought” to the all-male committee membership.
The parish roads committees deal with a number of issues beyond management of parish roads, including the branchage, general upkeep and green lanes.
They consist of five members: three are elected for a three-year term of office, the parish Constable chairs the committee and the rector is also a member.
Deputy Tadier, who represents St Brelade, said he had heard concerns raised in various parishes – including his own – from women who were considering standing for the roads committee but had found the process “opaque”.
He added that there were “obstacles put in their way”, including inflexibility with committee meeting dates and times and an attitude that “if you can’t make those meetings, you won’t be able to be on the committee”.
While the last States Assembly election saw an increase in equality, with women now making up 43% of the Assembly, Deputy Tadier said this progress had not been replicated at the parish level.
“It’s been suggested to me that there’s something of an old-boys’ network that runs in a lot of the parishes,” he said.
“There is a wider conversation going on here about public service and politics and keeping these committees relevant in the 21st century and, because they are such an important part of Jersey life, whether they need to be representative of the Island’s modern communities.”
Mrs Cartwright (75) was elected to the St Lawrence roads committee in 2019 after the parish’s Constable, Deidre Mezbourian, contacted her after feeling the group was “not balanced in gender”.
Mrs Mezbourian said that having a proactive female member was of “great benefit” to the parish and to her as the committee’s chair.
She added: “We need to encourage and diversify those people, certainly gender-based, who sit on any parish committee.”
Mrs Cartwright said that while it was unfair to describe the committee as unwelcoming, it was “a bit daunting when it was clearly very male dominated”.
She continued: “I think other members were cautious of having a woman, with the feeling ‘what does she know about roads?’.”
She added that women sometimes had different strengths to men and could negotiate well when tensions were high over a particular matter.
Mrs Cartwright encouraged any parishioners with an interest in the roads to stand for election, adding that the team at the parish hall were “lovely” and “so kind”.
Miss Bridge said she encountered difficulty when running for a place on the committee in Grouville.
“There is definitely a piece of work around communicating what the roads committees do, whether Constables think they should be more broadly representative of parishioners, and whether Constables even think it is an issue,” she said, adding: “As a parishioner, I do see it as an issue.
“Constables may argue that women are welcome to stand and free to do so, but when I tried to, we were given very short notice. I put my name forward, but, ultimately, I couldn’t be there in person and had no time to canvass support.
“One of the incumbents was overheard saying on the night it was ‘disgusting’ that I was not there in person, but how could I be at such short notice?”
She said there could be “better communication” of the parish elections, with earlier notification, and more publicity in parish magazines and social media to explain the roles and duties of different committees.
St Saviour Constable Kevin Lewis said: “All of our various committees and parishes that are electable are open to whoever wishes to put their name forward.”
Mr Honeycombe echoed Mr Lewis’s comment – and said that it was a “public election”.
“We’ve never had a member of the opposite sex who has put their name forward in our parish,” he said.
On whether the committees would benefit from a more even gender split, he said: “I couldn’t answer that.”
