Reform aims to take all five seats in town district

Friday 06 May 2022

Reform Jersey is aiming to take all five seats up for grabs in the St. Helier Central district, and has announced its final candidate for the area.

Party Chair Lyndsay Feltham has 14 years’ public sector experience in Jersey and Australia and chairs the civil service branch of Unite the Union.

Party Chair Lyndsay Feltham has 14 years’ public sector experience in Jersey and Australia and chairs the civil service branch of Unite the Union.

She is hoping to step into the shoes of her mother, Shirley Baudains, who previously represented the Rouge Bouillon area as Deputy.

Elaborating on her decision to stand, she said: “As a working mother living in St. Helier, I understand the day-to-day issues facing working families living in the area.

“St. Helier Central is the most densely populated district and houses a diverse community that needs access to schools and community facilities, as well as safe and well maintained public open spaces for those of us that do not have gardens, or only small outside spaces where we live.

“It’s also important that we address air quality issues caused by the high volume of traffic that use the main access routes into town that cut across the district.”

Pictured: Lyndsay Feltham is Jersey born and educated, and lived and worked in Western Australia for 11 years, before returning to the Island with her husband and daughter in 2017.

Should she be elected, Mrs Feltham pledged to “work closely with the Parish of St. Helier and Andium Homes to ensure that the development of the St. Helier House and Westmount nursery site provides the type of housing that the community needs, the development of the site also provides an unmissable opportunity to upgrade the outdated Old St. John’s Court and Westmount Court flats, which are currently not fit for purpose.”

Reflecting on previous administrations’ activities, she said voters were “right to be angry about the lack of progress made by successive governments in critical areas such as health, housing, and population.”

“There have been far too many reviews and consultancies without actions being taken to address these important issues, which have a very real impact on our quality of life. Consensus politics hasn’t worked in the past, which is why I am standing together with a team of Reform Jersey candidates so that we can be elected with a joint mandate for change,” she said.

“A Reform Jersey led government will give instructions to civil servants to take action and implement our election pledges. With my experience of working in the public sector, being a union leader, and chairing a political party, I am well equipped to take on a key role within government.”

She added that, if elected to a Ministerial position, she will “take action to improve political accountability, and ensure that our manifesto is implemented.” She did not specify if she had any preference.

Jersey’s election is taking place in June.