Deputy Rob Curgenven was successful in his latest attempt to get on to a States committee – winning a seat on Education, Sport, and Culture with a four vote margin over Alderney Representative Edward Hill.
ESC President Deputy Paul Montegue put forward the case for Deputy Curgenven from the committee’s side, referencing the work done by Deputy Jayne Ozanne since her election to the committee four months ago, before she had to stand down for personal reasons recently.
“Since July, this Committee has benefited from the energy, enthusiasm and drive of Deputy Ozanne, and we think that Deputy Curgenven can begin to replace some of those qualities, but also bring his own unique strengths to further enhance the delivery of our mandate,” said Deputy Montague.
He went on to describe some of these strengths, claiming ESC’s pick has “already demonstrated that he’s a committed and passionate campaigner,” – attributes the Committee President said were “essential” for both ESC’s work, but also “especially vital when championing our schools, our sports clubs and our cultural organisations”.
Deputy Montague said Deputy Curgenven has “proven” skills with Guernsey’s public, adding, “a skill that will serve this committee well as we engage with our community”.
He also referenced Deputy Curgenven’s skills from his professional career, prior to his successful election bid, describing his accountancy skills as “invaluable”.
Alderney Representative Edward Hill was proposed by Deputy Mark Helyar, who spoke highly of his qualifications.
He said his nomination “would bring to the committee a rare combination of practical teaching experience, proven Sports Leadership and cultural engagement, alongside an international outlook and a strongly solutions driven approach to politics”.
Deputy Helyar added that Mr Hill has been “instrumental in forming an education working group on the island looking particularly at early years provision and a suite of sixth form of technical options, including the use of private partnerships and digital learning to widen subject to it for all bailiwick students”.
Deputy Helyar also pointed to the Alderney representative’s musical abilities, and professional sport career.
“He does not merely talk about education in the abstract. He teaches music, modern languages, tennis and padel on an extracurricular basis, giving him a direct understanding of what works on the ground for teachers and for learners of all ages in sport.”
On that note the nominator claimed “his credentials are exceptional and directly relevant with his responsibilities. A former professional tennis player in Spain, he now chairs the Alderney tennis and Padel Club, which he’s helped transform.”
When it came to the vote Deputy Curgenven won 21 to 17, and was elected to a Committee for the first time since the election in June.
He had previously made an attempt in July for a seat on Home Affairs, but lost out by two seats to Deputy Simon Vermuelen.
He was later assigned to a special political group, which was established to support the Home Affairs review of police complaints.