LAST week, Deputy Hilary Jeune retained her seat as Deputy for St John, St Lawrence, and Trinity in triumphant fashion.
Standing on an independent ticket, the St John resident topped the polls with 3,020 votes, beating Deputy Kirsten Morel and Value Jersey endorsee Deputy Phil Romeril in the process.
Elected as a political newcomer in 2022, Deputy Jeune comes into the States Assembly four years later with experience both as Assistant Environment Minister and chair of the Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel.
She said she plans to use her “strong mandate” to focus on three pillars – “a resilient economy, a sustainable Jersey and a fairer Jersey.”
“I wanted to show that I wasn’t just a one-hit wonder,” she said. “That I actually have got that mandate, have got that support of the constituency of St John, St Lawrence, and Trinity.
“I’ve worked hard to make sure that I have delivered and therefore I hoped that the electorate would show that by voting for me.”
Beyond the super-constituency, Deputy Jeune explained that she is “very much playing it by ear” when it comes to her broader political intentions.
“My message to [Chief Minister] Lyndon [Farnham] is to carry on with what he did before – a unity government with a broad-brush of different perspectives and a cross-section of Jersey – to enable consensus-building and collaborative decision-making.
“I hope that will be the same going forward, because that is what the electorate has put forward.”
“It is also important to have strong scrutiny,” she added. “The residential tenancy law would not have happened without scrutiny, and without my intervention to make sure it was more balanced when it came.”
Deputy Jeune, who held responsibility for energy, climate change, and equity during her two years as Assistant Environment Minister, is keen to ensure future energy legislation takes into account the Island’s ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
“If you break down what the principles of the Carbon Neutral Roadmap are, it is trying to help people and it is trying to help them reduce their bills; whether on transport, whether on heating their house,” she said.
“We can see that we need to be more adaptive, our homes need to be more adaptive to a changing climate – we’ve already seen how hot it can get earlier this year.
“We need to adapt so that it is not more expensive for people to cool their homes, or heat their homes – and we need to make sure we’ve got the same for transport.”
She continued: “In terms of the environment as a whole, we still need to see it as part of our economy.
“When it comes to attracting people to come and work in Jersey, they are choosing us over other financial centres because what Jersey has which is a uniquely beautiful environment.”
As chair of youth homelessness charity JAYF, Deputy Jeune says the government must endeavour to balance cost-cutting with maintaining public services.
“For me, it is most important to make sure that if anything is being cut, we still have public services that are effective and sufficient for Jersey, and the public of Jersey”, she added.
“We need to make sure that policies are the best for all Islanders, and if those policies can be delivered with cost-cutting, that’s brilliant, as long as cost-cutting doesn’t then impact negatively on these services.”
