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Reform Jersey's 10 members will vote to oust the Chief Minister tomorrow, the party has confirmed – citing the ultimatum to teachers last week as the "final straw".
In a decision that will heap pressure on Kristina Moore, the party said that the Government was "now characterised by broken promises, dysfunctionality and lacking any clear vision to take Jersey forward" and that "it is time for new leadership".
The motion of no confidence is being put forward by ex-Infrastructure Minister Tom Binet, supported by Deputies Rose Binet, Mary Le Hegarat and Andy Howell. Former Assistant Chief Minister and long-term ally of Kristina Moore Andy Jehan also confirmed he would be voting against her at the weekend.
It brings the number of politicians who have officially declared they will be voting against the Chief Minister to 15 – just under a third of the States Assembly.
While Reform had up to now wished to keep its voting intentions secret until the day of the no-confidence debate, they said today that the pay deal letter issued to teachers last week had swayed their decision.
As first reported by Express on Friday, a letter from Government explained that all teachers would have the Government's latest pay deal forced into their wage packets with a condition that they cannot strike for three years – unless they explicitly opt out of receiving the rise. Those who accept the offer and then later strike will have the pay uplift removed from their salary and the one-off payment £1,000 taken back.
This is an absolutely disgraceful and authoritarian attack on the rights of government employees to take part in secret ballots on industrial relations.
— Deputy Sam Mézec (@SamMezecJsy) January 12, 2024
Collecting a database of who voted which way in vote is totally undemocratic. What on earth are they thinking? https://t.co/55SoYXkYI2
"The final straw came last Friday, when a leaked letter showed the latest attack on Jersey's teaching profession, including a shameful attempt to establish a database of how each teacher voted in a secret ballot," Reform said in a statement explaining its reasons for voting to oust the Chief Minister.
"We share the concerns of the unions on the legality of this action and are dismayed that the government has approached this in such an authoritarian manner. We asked that this letter be withdrawn immediately, but this was not considered.
Reform Jersey had previously requested an "urgent meeting" to "discuss how things can be salvaged" shortly after a vote of no confidence was lodged against her.
In her response Deputy Moore did not appear to agree with the party's suggestion that implementation of their 'New Deal' manifesto would be the way forward.
She noted that Reform politicians put forward a number of amendments to the most recent Government spending plans in line with their manifesto commitments, but that "most of these were rejected by the Assembly".
Reform once again met with the Chief Minister this morning, after which the party released their statement.
It said that after meeting Chief Minister Kristina Moore twice since the no-confidence motion was lodged, it had become clear that "the change that Jersey needs is impossible to achieve under her leadership".
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— Reform Jersey (@ReformJersey) January 15, 2024
Reform Jersey will be backing the vote of no confidence in the Chief Minister tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/lDG7ubC0pQ
"Whilst Jersey faces a severe cost-of-living crisis, record levels of foodbank usage and growing inequality, the government has been beset by dysfunctionality, bullying accusations, and ministers resigning.
"Faith in politics has further been eroded by the broken promises on the living wage and GST on period products. The current leadership approach is not working, and Islanders are suffering the consequences of it.
"Reform Jersey cannot stand by and allow this to continue. We therefore offered the Chief Minister an opportunity to reset and consider our policy proposals to turn things around. These proposals were met with little more than nice words from the Chief Minister, and outright hostility from her colleagues."
They added: "We believe that islanders would not forgive our members if we used our co-ordinated block vote in the Assembly to prop up a government that is now characterised by broken promises, dysfunctionality and lacking any clear vision to take Jersey forward.
"This was not the better way the public were promised and it is time for new leadership."
It comes after Deputy Moore lost the support of long-term ally and former Assistant Chief Minister Andy Jehan.
In a short video posted to X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday evening, Constable of St John Andy Jehan set out his position:
Video: Constable Andy Jehan confirmed his voting intentions in a short video on Saturday evening.
However, he did not reveal his reasons, saying he would share them during the debate.
It came just hours after Deputy Moore had shared her own video in which she set out her priorities for the weeks and months ahead, should the vote be unsuccessful.
She said: "[The VoNC] means that there’s lots of political manoeuvring going on, lots of talk about personalities, but I know that when you went to the polls you wanted to elect people who were going to deliver action, particularly in these challenging economic times."
Video: Kristina Moore made a bid to woo the public on Saturday.
"This is the stuff that really matters to people," she added. "I know that there’s a lot more to do but if we can keep going I know that we can make this a community where everyone can thrive."
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Express recently spoke to Tom Binet for the Politics Disassembled podcast, why he was seeking to oust the Chief Minister – listen below or wherever you get your podcasts...
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