THE leader of Reform Jersey has rebuked an “untrue” comparison between the party’s interactions with a trade union and a recently-formed movement’s use of an international consulting firm led by a prominent American political strategist.
Deputy Sam Mézec spoke out after Value Jersey said that its arrangement with The Messina Group was “no different from how Reform seeks professional advice from Unite [the Union]”.
TMG, which offers strategic advisory as well as political and corporate consulting, was founded in 2013 by Jim Messina – who served as deputy chief of staff for Barack Obama during the former president’s first term.
Responding to questions from the JEP earlier this week on whether Value Jersey had sought support from the international consulting firm, a spokesperson for the self-described movement said: “Of course we have asked for help as we take on this massive challenge of bringing the Island together and TMG have been really helpful.”
They added: “This is not new to Jersey; plenty of people have used advisors (including our government!) and it’s no different from how Reform seeks professional advice from Unite [the Union].”
But Deputy Mézec yesterday dismissed the comparison, describing it as “untrue on two levels”.
He said: “The first is that Reform Jersey has never paid a single penny or asked pro bono for any kind of political consultancy or data analysis.
“It’s not something that we’re involved in, so it’s an inaccurate comparison on that first basis.”
Deputy Mézec continued: “The second inaccurate comparison is that, even if we were involved in that kind of thing, the public would have every ability to find out how much we spent on it – and find out where we got the money from – because we’re required to file accounts every year in the Royal Court.”
His comments follow last week’s approval of a proposition brought forward by Reform Jersey member Deputy Rob Ward, which called for a voluntary code asking candidates in the Island’s forthcoming election to declare membership of any political group, movement, collaboration or campaign they are part of – as well as information about their policies, funding sources and decision-making structures.
Deputy Mézec said: “There isn’t time before the election to get legislation in place, but that’s no reason why anybody can’t volunteer to abide by the spirit of the rules anyway and everyone in Jersey politics should be encouraged to do that.”
Value Jersey has said it is not affected by the proposition “as it only includes movements who are fielding candidates”.
