THE end of an era for the Parish of St Helier was signalled on Friday as Constable Simon Crowcroft announced his intention to step down next June.
Staff and officials learned the news at their annual festive gathering: confirmation that by the time the Christmas toasts are being raised this time next year, there’ll be a new father (or mother) of the parish.
Sharing the news with the JEP just ahead of announcing it publicly, Mr Crowcroft said he was sad to be stepping away from the role after almost a quarter of a century, but had decided the time was right.
“I don’t know if I’m 100% ready, and sense there’ll always be things to do as Constable,” he said. “It’s a fantastic position to have served in, which a former Bailiff described as the second-best job in Jersey, and I feel lucky to have done it for so long.
“But I’ll be 68 by the time the election comes round, I can’t do it forever and there are other things that I want to do while I still can.
“I gave up my teaching career when I entered politics and once I’ve freed up some ‘headspace’ I’d like to do more writing and reading, and I have a catamaran sitting in the harbour in St Aubin that hasn’t been out for two years.”
In making the decision this month, as the countdown clock for the 2026 election ticked past the six-month marker, Mr Crowcroft said he wanted to allow time for potential candidates to emerge.
“It’s an important role and and I want to give people time to think about it,” he said, adding that he believed there were several current Deputies who might consider putting their names forwards when nominations open in April ahead of polling day on 7 June.
The election will be the first time in three decades that voters in the Island’s most populous parish won’t see the name Crowcroft on their ballot paper for Constable. He first stood in 1998, two years after being as elected as Deputy for St Helier no2 district, but was defeated by the incumbent, Bob Le Brocq.
Having ranked third in his district when he was elected in 1996, Mr Crowcroft topped the poll as he was re-elected in St Helier no2 three years later, but five years’ service as a Deputy came to an end in December 2001 when he challenged Mr Le Brocq a second time, this time successfully.
The convincing win by a margin of 489 votes was the first time in more than 20 years that a sitting Constable had been ousted in St Helier, and only the second occasion since the Second World War that this had happened.
“I stood in 1998 because I was so fed up with the state of St Helier, notably the traffic and the lack of open space,” he said. “I didn’t win, but I got close, and managed to win the election three years later.”
December 2001 isn’t a month Mr Crowcroft is likely to forget. His victory was confirmed on the evening of Wednesday 12 December and he was sworn into office at 10am on the Friday, while in between these two events the youngest of his five children was born, with his second wife Angela giving birth to Miriam on the Thursday morning.
The statistic relating to the rarity of successful challenges to sitting Constables in St Helier is now likely to persist until at least 2030, and Mr Crowcroft was only opposed on two of the six occasions that he has stood for re-election. He received more than nine times as many votes as his opponent Alvin Aaron in 2008, but was involved in a closer contest in 2022, when his 3,110 votes put him around 950 clear of rival Mark Le Chevalier.
Within months of being re-elected, Mr Crowcroft took the title of St Helier’s longest-serving Constable from Philippe Baudains, who held the role for 21 years in the late 19th century and is commemorated in a bust displayed in Parade Gardens, not far from the Town Hall.
Expanding on his 24 years – so far – in the “amazing” role, Mr Crowcroft said it was the variety inherent in the job that had been one of the most noted features.
“The civic element of the position is one I’ve really enjoyed, including celebrating Liberation Day every May, being involved in Remembrance Day and welcoming guests to St Helier,” he said.
Four of St Helier’s five twinnings – Bad Würzach in Germany, the Madeiran capital Funchal, Trenton New Jersey and the Ukrainian town of Mykolaiv – have been set up during to Crowcroft era, and during his recent Christmas address to the States Assembly as the longest-serving Constable, he spoke with pride about still flying the Ukrainian flag from the Town Hall and hopes that a just peace would come to Mykolaiv in the future to enable to town to celebrate its own Liberation Day.
Mr Crowcroft has also relished the pastoral side of his role.
“When I was a teenager, I wanted to be ordained,” he said. “I lost my faith at university, but it’s been important to be able to help people without the religious element that a priest would bring.
“Parishioners stop me in the street and on the bus, I’m constantly button-holed by people asking for help and the great thing is that quite often I can assist them by letting them know who to contact or by talking to the right person myself.
“There are lots of layers to the parish system, some of which date back centuries and I think it’s why Jersey works so well.”
Being a staunch supporter of the parish system doesn’t mean Mr Crowcroft believes there’s an automatic right for Constables to sit in the States Assembly, and he has waged several battles over the years to get a fairer deal for residents of the Island’s capital in terms of how much influence they wield compared with more sparsely-populated country parishes.
Looking back over his time, Mr Crowcroft said he was proud of the range of festivals that now take place in St Helier every year, most recently an expanded and successful “Christmas Switch-On” event, and he is also pleased at being able to unlock government investment in key areas, such as new playgrounds that have been set up in partnership with the parish.
A long-running campaign for the States to pay parish rates was also eventually successful, and the Constable has also been pleased to see the arrival of a number of new lease-holders in the Central Market.
As yet, Mr Crowcroft hasn’t been able to achieve his ambition of doubling the size of the Millennium Town Park, but he remains hopeful of eventual success on this front.
“I was defeated last time I took it to the States, but I got ten votes, which was nine more than last time, and I’m optimistic that we may get there in the end,” he said.
“Almost every parishioners I speak to is supportive and I sense other politicians may come to appreciate that we need extra green space more than we need a new school.”
Mr Crowcroft is also hopeful that Islanders will eventually appreciate the benefits of the controversial project to pedestrianise Broad Street, and cites the positive feedback to the adjacent works on New Cut as an example of winning round former sceptics.
Excluding the ceremonial gathering on Liberation Day, there are just five more sittings of the States Assembly scheduled before the election, with the parliamentary term ending just before the start of the Easter break in early April. A little more than two months later there’ll be a new face in the Constable’s office at the Town Hall for the first time in almost 25 years and the former incumbent will be able to unfurl the sails on his catamaran.
