A FOUR-WAY – at least – battle to be St Helier’s next Constable was the stand-out feature of a brisk start to business at Morier House in St Helier yesterday as the starting gun was fired on the 2026 election campaign.
By 10am, an hour after the nomination “window” for the election had officially opened, an estimated 15 candidates had already presented their papers for inspection by staff from the States Greffe.
Mark Le Chevalier, the businessman who claimed 40% of the vote in challenging sitting Constable Simon Crowcroft in St Helier in 2022, was among the early arrivals and confirmed that he will be standing again this year.
Current Deputies Inna Gardiner, Rob Ward and David Warr were also on hand with their nomination forms, setting up the largest field for a Constable election for many years in the wake of Mr Crowcroft’s decision to step down after almost quarter a century of being in charge at the Town Hall.
The first hint of media interference in the campaign came just before 9am as Senatorial hopeful Bernard Place made his way purposefully across from the Royal Square alongside Suzanne Webb, who is standing for Constable of St Saviour.
The pair looked set to be first in the queue, until they stopped momentarily to talk to the JEP, allowing Deputy Tom Coles to slip into the building and take pole position.
Each person’s paperwork was thoroughly inspected by officials to make sure the necessary sections were filled in and the right boxes ticked. Even once this was done and the candidates was able to leave, there remained further checks to ensure that the proposer and nine seconders for each nomination were on the electoral roll.
The switch to a new automatic voter registration system had brought some teething issues, but officials have pledged to work with election hopefuls in seeking to finalise the “runners and riders” in time for next Monday, when a full list of candidates is set to be published.
It was largely a plain-clothes affair, until Deputy Gardiner arrived in a bright red suit and sporting a multi-coloured rosette. “The campaign has started today, and that means I wanted to look the part,” she explained.
Most candidates were unaccompanied, but Mr Le Chevalier was flanked by his wife and son, while Deputy Lucy Stephenson had two sons in tow as she stopped for a selfie at the front door.
On a chilly morning, with the sun still some hours from reaching the north side of Halkett Street, the novelty wore off a little and attention turned to whether there’d be an equivalent rush ahead of the final deadline for nominations at 5pm – that’s 5pm sharp – tomorrow.
