SELF-STYLED political “movement” Value Jersey has sought to address further confusion over its operations – after it emerged that it is registered as a company in the UK with a security specialist as its director.
The organisation, which launched in October, has previously stated that it is “not a party” and is “not endorsing candidates”, but has developed a roadmap “that any candidate can endorse” heading into the election in June.
Questions over its structure emerged in January after the JEP revealed that Value Jersey had sought support from The Messina Group, which offers strategic advisory as well as political and corporate consulting and was founded by the former deputy chief of staff to Barack Obama. The consultancy firm was instrumental in the former President’s 2012 re-election campaign.
Further questions arose after it emerged that Value Jersey was not a Jersey-registered company or charity. It is registered with the Jersey Office of the Information Commissioner as Affordable Jersey Ltd and a Companies House listing of the same name shows a London office address.
Asked why this was the case, a Value Jersey spokesperson told the JEP: “As many find out the hard way, setting up a company and a bank account in Jersey can be a long, painful, and expensive process.”
They continued: “We needed to get campaigning early, to bring the Island together to address the serious economic challenges it faces: a cost-of-living crisis, a declining economy and spiralling government waste.
“So, whilst we are in the process of setting up a Jersey bank account, we knew we could set up a UK account quickly and simply to get started.”
The spokesperson also explained the connection with the only name on the Companies House record, Christopher Cully – a former Metropolitan Police Officer, who transitioned into the private security sector and is now Managing Director of Dilitas – citing a history with Phil Romeril, one of Value Jersey’s founders.
“As we’re Jersey residents, we asked Chris, an old family friend of Phil’s, to be our UK-based director,” the spokesperson added.
“His family have been buying Jersey Royals since the two were young boys, and they are basically brothers. Beyond his fiduciary duties he has no involvement in the policy development, strategy or campaigning work of Value Jersey.”
They said the organisation was reliant on its “personal networks” and “the donations of ordinary Islanders”.
“Too frequently we have come up against the very barriers that Value Jersey wants to knock down,” the spokesperson said.
“We want to reboot the Jersey economy, attract cheaper providers and get a grip on government spending.”
The spokesperson said that once the movement’s Jersey company and bank account had been set up, the UK registration would be closed down. The comments come just over a week after Value Jersey launched an Islandwide consultation seeking Islanders’ views “on a range of potential policies and principles”.
