Crunching the numbers from election expenses declarations

IN the same way as there was a large gap in terms of what election candidates spent on their campaigns, the amount invested for every vote received also varied significantly.

While the total spending chart was topped by Senatorial candidates, with both Treasury Minister Alan Maclean and Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham investing more than £13,000 into their Islandwide campaigns, the candidates heading the “per votes” list came from the Island’s least-populated parish.

In retaining his place in the States Assembly, Constable David Johnson of St Mary amassed a total expenses bill of £1,942, working out at £4.78 for each of the 406 votes he received. The only people above him in the list were his rivals for the position Mark Baker – whose £880 investment worked out at £5.64 per vote – and Ivor Barette (211 votes costing £5.57).

Mr Johnson was the only candidate in the top ten of the cost-per-vote list to gain election, with other candidates for Deputy and Constable roles not succeeding. Among these was former Chief Minister John Le Fondré, whose bid to become Constable of St Lawrence saw him win 608 votes having spent £2,254.

Mr Le Fondré was well beaten by political newcomer Tina Palmer, who was one of three candidates whose expenses were not published. Ms Palmer, who polled 1,151 votes, told the JEP that this issue stemmed from her having inadvertently submitted an unsigned expenses declaration. The issue had now been rectified, she said, with her total expenses amounting to less than £2,000.

Due to the much larger size of the Islandwide electorate, no Senatorial candidates appeared in the top half of the 89 declarations. Former Housing Minister Sam Mézec’s 9,374 votes came at a cost of £1.24 each but were insufficient for him to gain re-election as he came tenth in the poll that saw the top nine candidates succeed.

Senator Maclean’s investment was £1.10 per vote, while Senator Farnham’s investment worked out at 94 pence for each of his 14,217 votes.

At the lower end of the cost-per-vote charts, the zero expense declarations by Senator Tom Binet and Deputy Rose Binet meant they were guaranteed to be the lowest-ranked candidates, just ahead of Constable Mark Labey, who restricted his spending to a £20 piece of wood on which to affix a banner, and Guy De Faye, whose Senatorial tilt involved the purchase of 100 cable ties for £10.98.

Two other Constables to be re-elected unopposed, save the option for voters to select “none of the above”, Andy Jehan in St John and Richard Honeycombe in St Ouen, spent 12 pence per vote.

Also in the bottom ten was Deputy Alex Curtis, who finished comfortably top of the poll in St Clement having spent just £423 for his 1,384 votes and recycled posters from his 2022 campaign. The frugal Deputy’s plastic cable-ties (£7 for 200) were just a third of the price of those purchased by Mr De Faye, with his other cost being £416 for 4,000 A5 leaflets.

Michael Marett-Crosby, chair of the Jersey Electoral Authority, said he was aware that there had been some grumbles from Islanders about the length of time – almost 11 weeks – to publish the expenses.

“I know one or two people think there’s been a delay., but everything’s now out there,” he said. “That took a little bit of time to get right, and I don’t regret that time – there’s no deadline in law.

“I think [publishing expenses] is an essential part of our democracy – I think people need to know who spent what on the election, because an election is a struggle over the narrative very often, and it’s it’s important that people know what money was spent on promoting those ideas.”

Mr Marett-Crosby confirmed that the expenses declarations were subject to an ongoing audit process.