THE longest-serving States Deputy has confirmed his intention to stand down from the Assembly next year.
Making a Christmas address alongside the longest-serving Constable and the Bailiff on the final day of States business for the year, Deputy Geoff Southern said he was performing the festive speaking duty for the final time.
“Members who endured my previous speeches will be pleased to know this is the last one,” he said. “I won’t be giving the address next year – it will be someone else’s responsibility.”
Deputy Southern was speaking on the 23rd anniversary of being sworn in as a Deputy for the first time, having been elected to represent St Helier’s number two district two weeks earlier. He will leave his role when Islanders vote in the election scheduled for next June.
As well as the traditional thanks to Assembly officials and staff, Deputy Southern quoted from a recent Reith Lecture given by Dutch author and historian Rutger Bregman, who described increased levels of anarchy in the world and the “passionate intensity” seen in global politics.
“When I hear the words ‘passionate intensity’, I think of President Trump’s face grinning on the podium, and when anarchy is mentioned, I think of Gaza – this is the reality of where we are,” he said.
Growing levels of apathy regarding democracy were in danger of creating a fertile ground for the enemies of democracy, he said.
“People tune out, they swipe away and switch off – they don’t believe in politicians, the media, in court or in elections,” he added. “They’ve seen too many broken promises, and the autocrats sense their time has come.”
States Members should defend against such threats “with our very blood”, he argued passionately, saying that oligarchs were slowly and steadily abandoning their commitment to democracy.
Deputy Southern said he had taken inspiration from role models across history such as Florence Nightingale and Emmeline Pankhurst, quoting former American President Theodore Roosevelt that change was achieved by those with the courage to make mistakes and to get up after being knocked down.
He concluded with an appeal to States Members, saying: “We have to prove we’re not just a bunch of whiners and nimbies, we have to show that liberal democracy can deliver and that we will fight for it.”
