Senator Steve Pallett, leader of the Progress Party – Jersey’s second registered political party, said that the organisation was building its profile and had several candidates interested in standing for it in June 2022. However, he said they would not be releasing their manifesto until next year.
Meanwhile, former political candidate Mark Baker has announced that he intends to launch the Jèrriais Party, which will focus on tackling population control.
It is understood that at least one other group with common values is also being drawn together, with at least one high profile former politician involved.
Senator Sam Mézec, the leader of existing political party Reform Jersey, said that the emergence of more parties was a ‘victory’ for his group, which has been pushing party politics in recent years.
‘That people seem to be convinced that party politics is the way forward for Jersey is, I would say, a vindication of the work that Reform Jersey has done over the years,’ he said.
‘It is a victory that we were able to set an example of how to do Jersey politics rather than having the glorified popularity contests that we usually have.’
He added that the public could expect ‘bigger and better’ from Reform Jersey at the next election.
Senator Pallett said that the Progress Party was now working to attract more members to its ‘centrist’ platform.
‘We will be doing more in the next few weeks to start making people aware that they can become members of the party,’ he said.
‘We have people interested in standing as candidates for us but I can’t reveal anything at this stage, other than I feel they will be very good candidates for us. We want people to know that if they do stand for us they will receive advice, which is very important.
‘We are doing more on social media to let people know we are out there but first of all we had to make sure that the accounts were in order. I’m very happy with them now. It’s uniform and it looks professional.’
He added that the party was now mapping out its year ahead and that the election campaign would start in earnest in early 2022 ahead of the June poll.
‘We are going to have an AGM later in the year and it will really be after Christmas that we will have to get going with the campaign,’ he said.
‘We will not be putting out a manifesto until about a month before the election but we will of course need to get some of our principles, which will be centrist, out there if we are going to attract members.’
Mr Baker, who was defeated when standing for Deputy of St Mary at the last election, said that his party’s main focus would be population control, as well as tackling social security fraud.
He added that he believed a party platform was necessary to bring about meaningful change in Jersey.
‘It is very difficult to achieve anything as an individual States Member, so you need other people to get things done. The States is a closed shop at the moment,’ he said.
‘I have got a lot of people talking about supporting the party but the problem is, honestly, that people are very reluctant to get into politics these days. I chose the name Jèrriais Party because it represents the unique and special qualities of the Island, which I feel are being lost.
‘I feel the Island is increasingly being run by UK civil servants who don’t understand it and Charlie Parker was the ultimate example of that. The people of Jersey don’t really have any say in how their Island is run.’
The Institute of Directors Jersey also recently launched its election campaign with the aim of supporting ‘diverse, experienced and high-calibre’ candidates to stand for election.
