Andy Jehan becomes 'Constable-elect' in St John

Thursday 01 April 2021

Former Parish Procureur, Andy Jehan, is to become the new Constable of St. John following a nomination meeting last night.

There were no other candidates for the position which fell vacant after the previous Constable, Chris Taylor, was deemed to be "not fit for office" by the Royal Court.

Mr Jehan will take on the role until the next election, currently expected to be in May or June 2022. He will be sworn into office on a date to be set by the Royal Court. 

At a nomination meeting last night, Mr Jehan was proposed by Kevin Keen, and seconded by former long-standing Parish Deputy, Phil Rondel. 

Non-Executive Chair of Jersey Business, who says he is now "semi-retired," Andy Jehan (57) was procureur of the Parish of St. John - a role that involves looking after the parish's finances - for eight years before stepping down in 2014. He has also served as a Constable’s Officer, Roads Inspector and Secretary to the Honorary Police among other roles. Currently, he is a trustee of St. John’s Recreation Centre.

Pictured: Kevin Keen proposing Andy Jehan.

Outside of parish life, Mr Jehan specialises in logistics, having spent 38 years working for Jersey Post, and acting as Director of Logistics and Transport for the 2015 Island Games. At present, he works part-time as a consultant for a local logistics company.

“My focus would be on the Parish, with a particular focus on strengthening communication and community involvement. I would like to see us set up a formal Community Group to support people, particularly our senior citizens, as has been done throughout covid.

“Now is the time to come together as a Parish and move forwards as we approach the end of lockdown. I have a number of practical ideas to help improve things for individuals, as well as groups and businesses. I would also take my States responsibilities very seriously and work to ensure that the Government is held to account, particularly with regards to its spending plans. I am also interested in the areas of the Economy, Environment and Transport.”

Pictured: Outgoing Constable Chris Taylor, chairing the meeting.

The seat became vacant after Chris Taylor resigned; he will remain in office until Mr Jehan has been sworn in by the Royal Court, but will not be attending any States Assembly meetings.

Paying tribute to the departing Constable’s “valuable service”, Mr Jehan commented: “…I was involved in the original Village working party 10 years ago that identified the need for a playing field for the school - Chris has recently got planning approval for this. It’s an exciting project that needs to be delivered, along with the much-needed new homes for first-time buyers.”

Pictured: last night's nomination meeting. 

Mr Taylor's announcement came three days after the Royal Court ordered him to resign after concluding, “with sadness that his years of valuable service to his parish should come to an end in such a way”, that he was not fit for office and directed he should resign due to his dangerous driving conviction, use of parish funds to pay his legal fees and continued protestations of innocence in the media.

Mr Taylor was found to have repeatedly driven into the legs of a cycle race marshal at slow speed in June 2019 following a Magistrate’s Court trial last year, for which he was fined £4,000 and given a driving ban.