With Guernsey’s election quickly approaching, one of the candidates many would expect to want to be Chief Minister has said he’s undecided about taking on the position again.
Deputy Gavin St Pier intends to stand for re-election, but he recently told Express that he will wait to see who else is elected before he decides what position he might go for if he is also voted in to the next States.
One of his current colleagues, Deputy Mark Helyar has recently stated that he would like to be President of Policy and Resources if he is re-elected to the States for a second term of office.
He told the Guernsey Press that he would intend to reform the States if he is successful in that aim.
Ultimately, the decision won’t be down to either of them though, because that’s not how the system works.
Elections
Candidates will be formally nominated for the June election during mid-May.
During that process and the following campaign period more may publicly state their intention to stand as P&R President if they are elected to the States.
But the public won’t get to decide that, even if their preferred candidate does declare their intention to stand for the P&R presidency.
The 38 individuals elected to the States of Deliberation in June will decide who the next P&R President is.
They’ll also vote on each other committee presidency and committee members with nominations agreed before hand or accepted from the floor.
The election for the President of P&R will be held first on 1 July, with the P&R Committee members chosen the following day. The rest of the committee elections will follow that.
The newly sworn in States will nominate candidates for the role of President of P&R and then there will be speeches explaining why each of those nominated should be elected.
It’s likely there will be at least two candidates nominated for the position of President of P&R with agreements made before the vote suggesting which deputies will support which candidates.
In both 2016 and 2020, Deputies Gavin St Pier and Peter Ferbrache went head to head in their personal bids to be elected to the role.
In 2016 Deputy St Pier was chosen while in 2020 Deputy Ferbrache was.
The vote was close both times, with a tied vote only broken by a spoilt paper in 2016, before Deputy Ferbrache defeated Deputy St Pier in the re-run four years later by 23 votes to 17.
While Deputy Ferbrache has said he won’t be seeking re-election this year, Deputy St Pier will be. But he told Express in a recently recorded podcast that he is undecided if he’ll go in for another four years as P&R President.
“I genuinely don’t know the answer to that question. In all the previous elections I’ve stood I’ve always made it clear what position I would be seeking the other side of election if I’m fortunate enough to be re elected as a States Deputy.
“This time, I genuinely don’t know, because I think it really will depend on the composition of the next assembly where I am best serving. I would like to serve in a more productive and senior decision making, policy making role than I have during this term. I’ve spent most of the time on the back benches and I’ve carved a role in that way and it’s been very enjoyable and it’s been very different and I’ve got a different perspective but I think I’m ready to be doing something that is more focused on policy making, but where that is will depend on the composition of the new States.
“I would also say that, having worn the t-shirt for four years as the President of Policy and Resources as the Chief Minister, I know how difficult a job it is. I know how little influence you really have over the rest of government. I know how much of your time is spent simply reacting to events, rather than being able to properly, strategically plan and actually influence the direction of government and policy.
“In other words, it’s a nice title and it’s a nice role, but actually, in terms of being able to transform the direction of government, it doesn’t have the level of influence and power that people might imagine it has, and therefore, who is the right person to occupy it will depend very much on the composition of the new assembly.”
Jersey
While the voting public in Guernsey don’t choose their P&R President, Jersey’s next Chief Minister could be chosen by the public if a proposition by a former post-holder is approved.
They currently don’t allow the public to choose their Chief Minister, but Deputy Kristina Moore is suggesting an election-day poll next year.
She’s lodged a proposition calling for future Chief Ministers be directly elected by islanders and she wants the changes to be brought in ahead of the election next year.
Deputy Moore said: “This change should boost public engagement in the elections and offer the electorate a greater level of transparency regarding the future leadership of the island by conducting a simple poll on the day of the general election.
“The poll will mean that contenders for the position of Chief Minister will have to state their intention prior to the election and run an island-wide campaign.”
If her proposition is approved, all prospective candidates intending to stand for the role of Chief Minister would have to declare their intention when they submit their nomination form as a senatorial candidate in the general election.
A poll of these candidates would then be conducted in parallel with the general election to establish who the electorate would prefer as Chief Minister.
The results of this poll of candidates for Chief Minister would be “binding”, and the successful candidate would become Chief Minister designate upon their taking the oath of office as a States Member following the general election.
In the “unlikely scenario” where a candidate wins the poll for Chief Minister but fails to be elected, the candidate who came second in the poll would take post instead.
President of P&R
Although the post-holder is often colloquially called the Chief Minister, that is not their title anymore.
It used to be, until the change in machinery of government came in during 2016.
The Policy and Resources Committee and other new bodies came into effect from the election in April that year along with Presidents of committees rather than Ministers in charge of departments, meaning that there was no longer a ‘Chief Minister’.
As President of Policy and Resources that one individual is the most senior politician in the States and they are responsible for leading the senior States committee which itself is responsible for the “co-ordination of the work of the States, including developing and promoting the States’ overall policy objectives and leading the policy planning process”.
The actual role and level of power that the President of P&R holds has been decried many times since it was created in 2016.
They do get called upon for ceremonial events and international affairs though, as the most senior politician in Guernsey.