REFORM Jersey has thrown its support behind the principle of restoring Senators to the States Assembly, but with a significant twist on how to achieve this without increasing the size of the Chamber.
The party has put forward plans to scrap existing arrangements whereby Constables sit as Members of the Assembly, freeing up 12 places that would be filled by a dozen Islandwide representatives.
Submitted by Deputy Tom Coles, one of ten Reform politicians in the 49-seat Assembly, the proposals will be among those considered by States Members when the matter is debated during the sitting scheduled for 18 March.
Deputy Coles’s blueprint comes in the form of an amendment to a proposition by Deputy Elaine Millar, who wishes to bring back Senators but wants nine Islandwide positions and a corresponding loss of one Deputy for each of the nine electoral districts.
In a statement, Reform Jersey said it wanted to give States Members the choice to reintroduce an element of Islandwide voting “without making our voting system more complicated and less representative by returning to the unpopular three-tier system that existed before the last election”.
The statement continued: “Reform Jersey is therefore offering an alternative compromise that would maintain our two-tier system by substituting Senators for Constables.
“This would allow voters to elect 12 States Members on an Islandwide basis, as well as electing Members in districts with Deputies distributed in proportion to population density.
“Constables would be able to focus on their parish duties or seek democratic election to the States via another office.”
Deputy Coles said he agreed with Deputy Millar, who wrote in the report accompanying her original proposition that the role of Senator was the most equitable elected office held in Jersey’s history. But he added that Constable was the least equitable position, with no difference in representation between the largest parish – St Helier, with a population of almost 36,000 – and the smallest (St Mary, with around 1,800).
Reform Jersey is also seeking to draw a line under debates about the make-up of the Assembly, with party leader Deputy Sam Mézec lodging a further amendment which would require any further proposals for change being overseen by an independent Boundaries Commission.
Deputy Mézec said he believed this move would ensure changes were made “on the basis of evidence rather than political opportunism”.
The debate later this month will be the latest in a long-running series of discussions over the past 2½ decades, dating back to a report by Sir Cecil Clothier published in 2000.
Ideas were put to the public in a 2013 referendum, where the lowest-ranked option retained Senators, and again the following year, when 62% of voters were in favour of Constables continuing to sit in the Assembly.
In 2019, the Privileges and Procedures Committee proposed changes in line with recommendations from the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, and the following year the Assembly agreed to pursue a system of electoral reform.
In April 2021, then Senators Ian Gorst and Lyndon Farnham launched unsuccessful bids to retain the role, with the current format being passed by 31 votes to 12 later in the same sitting.
Deputies Gorst and Farnham made a subsequent bid to reinstate Senators in January 2023, losing a vote by 24–23, before the most recent attempt saw a proposition brought by Deputy Moz Scott, which was defeated by 30 votes to 14 in November 2023.
Rival plans
- Existing Assembly: 37 Deputies across nine electoral districts + 12 (parish) Constables
- Deputy Elaine Millar (proposition P2/2025): 28 Deputies across nine electoral districts + nine (Islandwide) Senators + 12 (parish) Constables
- Deputy Tom Coles (amendment to P2/2025): 37 Deputies across nine electoral districts + 12 (Islandwide) Senators
