EXTRA seating was required as four weeks of pre-election hustings kicked off at the community centre in St Mary.
Voters in the Island’s least-populated parish took the chance to hear from the three candidates bidding to serve them as Constable for the next four years.
The event offered attendees the chance to grill the trio making up the panel, after each would-be Constable was given the chance to make an opening address.
Speaking first – in alphabetical order – Mark Baker described the election as a defining moment and said he had been shaped by the parish in which he grew up.
Mr Baker spoke of his regret at having to withdraw from the 2022 election due to a combination of serious health and family issues, but said he was fully committed to the current campaign, highlighting housing, population and what makes Island life special as his key priorities.
“There comes a moment when you have to stop talking and step forward,” he said. “Too many young people with parish connections cannot afford to buy [properties] or stay in St Mary, or the Island – that’s not just a housing issue, it’s an erosion of community as, children raised here and families rooted here are being pushed out.”
Mr Baker said his contribution to the parish included setting up a youth club in 2004 and organising the annual Santa’s Bikers Christmas event for the past 13 years.
Ivor Barette, the second man to speak, said he had lived in St Mary since attending the primary school, which his children had also attended and his grandsons were current pupils.
Having grown up in farming, Mr Barette lamented the significant drop in the number of herds in St Mary, saying that a farmer now needed 500 to 600 vergées of land in order to make a living.
He added that he had always taken a key interest in parish affairs and had served as a roads inspector for many years.
“We’ve got to think of the old values,” he said. “We’ve got to live within our means, which means – sometimes it’s nice to have something new, but we can’t always afford it.”
Mr Barette said he was particularly keen to make affordable housing available to young parishioners, and also wanted to ensure that the Island’s new hospital was finally built after years of delay.
Constable David Johnson, who is seeking to be re-elected for a second term having also served two terms as parish Deputy prior to that, said he had been advised that States Members needed at least one political term of experience in order to familiarise themselves with the workings of the Assembly.
Mr Johnson quoted the recent Parishes and Government Review, saying that “the parish system lies at the heart of Jersey’s civic constitutional and community life” and that the parishes were “places of identity, continuity and connection, and continue to play a vital role in supporting communities across the Island”.
Coordination between parishes and questions about funding issues across parishes and central government were matters arising from the report that needed to be addressed, he added, in order to preserve the parish system and head off future moves to remove Constables from the Assembly.
The state of the economy was the most important matter on Mr Johnson’s priority list, he confirmed. “Without that, everything fails, ” he said. “We need to take control, reduce expenditure, cut waste and support the finance industry to keep things on a proper footing.”
A wide range of topics was covered as a total of 25 questions were asked from the floor. A full recording of the event is available on the Vote Jersey YouTube site, where all the hustings events are being live-streamed.
St Mary Constable Hustings
What made them chuckle:
- “You could have asked me this at the breakfast table” – a tongue-in-cheek observation from Mr Johnson following a question from the floor about nursery funding from his wife Sarah.
What made them groan:
- Erratic sound quality, featuring crackling microphones and ear-splitting feedback.
