Terry Le Main, the “mega-school” and the Messina Group

FORMER Senator Terry Le Main has claimed responsibility for a leaflet campaign urging voters to back non-Reform candidates opposed to controversial plans for a new primary school in St Helier – and has confirmed to the JEP that he sought advice from a senior strategist working with the Messina Group consultancy.

The leaflet, which was distributed across parts of St Helier last week alongside posters with similar messaging, warns that Reform Jersey wants to build a “mega-school” on land once earmarked for the long-proposed Millennium Park extension and urges residents to vote for named candidates in the St Helier South and St Helier Central constituencies.

The provenance of the materials prompted confusion among constituents and some candidates, who were unhappy that they had not been contacted in advance about the campaign, which had no named promoter and only carried the mark of Val Plaisant-based printing company ‘Alpha Print’.

The printing firm has since told this newspaper that it did not consent to having its name printed on the material and requested that distribution cease to no avail.

The JEP was told that the printing of the posters had been arranged by Justin Lines, deputy director of international campaigns at the Messina Group – a US-based political strategy consultancy which was instrumental in President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, and which has been working with movement Value Jersey.

When the JEP contacted Value Jersey to enquire whether they had tasked Mr Lines – who, as this newspaper has previously reported, has been spotted at numerous hustings events with Value Jersey-endorsing candidates during the election period – with commissioning the campaign, they said they were not responsible.

Responding on behalf of the Value Jersey board, former politician Rowland Huelin said: “We really appreciate you reaching out, however I can categorically confirm that Value Jersey was not involved at all in the posters and leaflets you reference.”

When the JEP contacted Mr Lines directly on Sunday to ask on whose behalf he had commissioned the flyers, among other questions, he responded that he was “currently on the move” and would be able to respond “later this evening”. He did not respond to two further emails.

Early on Monday morning, Mr Le Main contacted the JEP, unprompted, to confirm that he was behind the campaign.

The previous Senator, a former Housing Minister who represented St Helier No 2 for many years and has long been a passionate campaigner for the Millennium Park project, said he was compelled to act because he feared the proposed school could be built on land intended to extend the park – a move backed by Reform Jersey politicians, who currently hold all five seats in the St Helier Central constituency and three out of four in St Helier South. The party is seeking a clean sweep in the two constituencies this election, while Reform member and Education Minister Rob Ward is running for Constable.

Mr Le Main has always been open about his opposition to the party.

“After getting many comments from candidates that there is a real worry that the residents’ needs will be overridden by Reform Jersey’s ‘mega-school’ plans that they do not want, that the roads cannot handle, and that our States cannot afford, thus being forced onto the site earmarked and promised for the Millennium Park extension, I have decided to unilaterally do something about it funded by myself and for the residents,” he said.

“I am not supporting any group, party, candidate or individual in my promoting of the facts that in 2021 Reform Jersey wholly supported this park [extension] for the residents, but in 2022, when one of their Reform members became Education Minister, all Reform did a U-turn and now support a giant mega-school.”

When the JEP asked about Mr Lines’ involvement in creating the materials, Mr Le Main subsequently acknowledged that he had sought advice from him.

“I am able to confirm that on the advice of a St Helier election candidate – not Reform or Value Jersey – I sought telephone advice from a Mr Lines, whom I did not know, and who has apparently been in Jersey for several months,” he said.

Stressing that he was acting independently, Mr Le Main went on to explain that “very many independent candidates” – including some allied to the principles of Value Jersey – had sought his advice.

“…Whether I agreed with their politics or not, no one has been turned away. I am a free agent on behalf of all who seek help and advice and I wish to confirm I have encouraged many to put their names forward for election as independents to oppose Reform Jersey. I am truly surprised at the amount of calls and emails from the voting public asking who to vote for! This did not happen during my political time.”

Following the admission, the JEP sent a further email to Mr Lines asking him to confirm the number of individuals The Messina Group has been advising locally, beyond Value Jersey.

No response had been received at the time of publication.

Alpha Print director Paul Stokes told the JEP that the company was deeply unhappy that its name had been included on the materials in small print in the bottom right-hand corner – something staff did not spot before the material left the premises.

Mr Stokes said Mr Lines had visited the shop, emailed the artwork and arranged payment in person on Wednesday 27 May.

After receiving enquiries from members of the public about why their name appeared on the posters, the company contacted Mr Lines directly to urgently request the withdrawal of the materials.

In an email shared with the JEP, Mr Stokes wrote to Mr Lines on his Messina Group account: “Good afternoon Justin. It has just been brought to our attention that you have included our name on your flyers WITHOUT our permission. This was not noticed at time of printing and wholly inconsistent with our views.

“Could you stop distributing and return any unused material.”

Mr Stokes told the JEP he had not received a response to the email.

While he stressed that Alpha Print would print material for clients across the political spectrum and had no issue with printing the specific message contained in the leaflet, he said he was concerned that the inclusion of the firm’s name could be interpreted as an endorsement.

He also felt it was not right that the company name had been included when the promoter of the message had not been.

The candidates named in the leaflet were Samantha Gleave (Value Jersey endorser and its former communications director), Judy Martin (VJ endorser) and Bernie Manning in St Helier South, and Cameron Monro (VJ endorser), Robin Ward and John Tkokkallos in St Helier Central.

Although he has supported the campaign to extend Millennium Park to St Saviour’s Road for around three decades, Mr Manning said that he had “nothing to do” with the election leaflets and had not authorised them, nor did he know who had commissioned them. He said that he would let the Jersey Electoral Authority know.

Writing on Facebook, Mr Ward also said he “knew nothing” about them, adding: “I do not know who has put these posters up, but I think we should have been consulted first.”

The named candidates who have publicly endorsed Value Jersey’s policies and admitted to purchasing campaign support packages from the movement did not respond to questions on Sunday from the JEP as to whether they were aware in advance about the posters and if they knew who was behind them. Mr Tkokkallos has also not commented on the matter.

However, Mrs Gleave – who had posted a video on Facebook against the “mega-school” last Monday, two days prior to the leaflets featuring similar wording being commissioned by Mr Lines – addressed the issue on Facebook on Monday evening following the JEP’s enquiries.

She did not state whether she knew in advance about the campaign but claimed that “misinformation” had been circulating about it, adding: “It’s been brought to the attention of those named in the poster and leaflet that Terry Le Main is leading this campaign.

“I am so impressed with Terry Le Main’s bravery and as an independent candidate that is named in the leaflet, I will fully support Terry’s campaign to challenge the building of the school and save the extension to the park.”

Over the weekend, the JEP asked the JEA whether it had received any representations regarding the “mega-school” campaign, whether it had any concerns regarding the absence of any obvious reference to those responsible for commissioning it beyond the printer’s imprint, and whether it considered material of this nature to fall within the definition of third-party election expenditure under the Public Elections (Expenditure and Donations) (Jersey) Law 2014. A response is yet to be received.

Current vote.je guidance states that a third-party is counted as “a person or persons who are not themselves candidates, but who choose to campaign to promote or procure the election of any candidate OR to prejudice the electoral prospects of any candidate in the election”.

If their expenses exceed £600, third-parties must submit a declaration of expenditure by 3 July.

Their spending limit is half the allowance for a candidate (£1,258.50 for Connétable or Deputy candidates plus 6.5p per person on the electoral register of the constituency).

Mr Le Main told the JEP: “If I have to declare my expenditure above the declarable figure, it will be declared in the appropriate and transparent manner after the election.”

The Code of Conduct election candidates are expected to follow states: “Do use imprints (an indication of who is responsible for the production) on all your printed campaign material and any electronic campaign material that is designed to be printed off. Imprints help to ensure that the campaign is transparent. You should ensure the imprint is clear and visible and is also included on any digital advertising.”

Reform Jersey leader Sam Mézec told the JEP he had reported the posters to the police, who had said they would make enquiries with the Jersey Electoral Authority.

He added that he did not believe that Mr Le Main was the sole party behind the campaign, and that he had merely opted to “take the blame” for others who were seeking to reduce Reform’s electoral prospects.

It comes amid wider public debate about the influences seeking to shaping the 2026 election result outside of the spotlight.

Last week, the JEP revealed that a 13-page election guide entitled ‘Restoring the Jersey Way’ was circulating among politicians, candidates and Islanders linked to the political scene, urging them to vote tactically to back a coordinated bloc of “pro-growth”, “light-touch government” candidates, while explicitly seeking to shut Reform Jersey out of the next States Assembly.

Also last week, unopposed St Martin Constable candidate Karen Shenton Stone used her hustings to launch an extraordinary broadside against Value Jersey, denouncing the Island’s apparent drift towards a more heavily managed and externally influenced style of politics, and urging Islanders to “start fanning away the smoke and mirrors”.

“The idea that the only way you feel you can get a seat in the States Assembly is to set up a UK company within a year of the election and then go and hire an international consultancy so that you don’t have to campaign solely on your own merits… this should have remained a ludicrous idea,” she said. “Our politics have never been like this, and should never be like this again.”