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It's usually a method for finding a new partner, but Jersey’s Chamber of Commerce is holding a speed-hustings breakfast for those who want to grill the 11 Senatorial candidates.
It’s being hosted at the Royal Yacht Hotel on Thursday, September 1st.
Breakfast will be served between 7:15 and 7:45, and questions will be answered from 7:45 to 9:00. Tickets will cost members £10. Non-members will have to pay £15.
Questions have to be submitted in advance, and the candidates will only have a minute to give their answers.
Meanwhile, one of the 11 candidates has quit the hustings. Alvin Aaron says he has no “ready answers to the set political questions" and would rather meet voters face to face.
The hustings certainly take up a great amount of the candidates’ time. They’ve agreed to hold at least 13 meetings in the space of just 17 days – and there’s still the possibility they may add another two meetings to the list.
There had been discussions about holding just four 'super' hustings, but the candidates rejected the idea, opting instead for the more traditional approach of one in each parish.
The hustings have also been criticised for not being productive. With so many candidates time is tight and some critics say there’s not enough time for questions and answers.
A slightly modified approach has been taken for this by-election to speed up the meetings and to make them more useful. Speeches have been cut from five minutes to three, and the time candidates have to reply to questions has been cut to two minutes.
The 11 candidates standing for the vacant job include one current States member Deputy Sam Mezec; four former politicians: Guy de Faye, Sarah Ferguson, Nick Le Cornu, and John Young; and six newcomers: Alvin Aaron, Mike Dun, Christian May, Stevie Ocean, Mary O'Keeffe-Burgher, and Hugh Raymond.
The post has fallen vacant because of the shock resignation of Senator Zoe Cameron. She quit in frustration saying it was impossible to get anything done, claiming she’d been cold-shouldered by the Council of Ministers.
Election day is Wednesday, September 7th. The term of office will last until spring 2018.
Find out more about those standing for election in Bailiwick Express's Meet the Candidates series running over the next two weeks.
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