Environmental issues dominated a series of hustings as the 2025 election candidates faced the public for the first time in a formal setting.
Wednesday night saw the Blue Marine Foundation take over Les Beaucamps High School with around 30 candidates taking turns to answer the questions posed.
The night was split into sessions with up to eight candidates in each.
Every candidate was given two minutes to introduce themselves with most heard by Express choosing to focus on their environmental credentials including past achievements, future aims, and personal ideologies.
In his introduction, sitting Deputy Gavin St Pier acknowledged that environmental issues are not his area of expertise but he is keen to listen to and engage with experts in the area. He said his party Forward Guernsey has set climate transition as one of its six core policy priorities if its members are elected.
Deputy Victoria Oliver gave a list of examples of her environmental achievements over the past term of office. “As President of the Development and Planning Authority, I’ve made it a priority to put the environment at the heart of the planning system,” she said.
Deputy Lindsey de Sausmarez also listed a number of her environmental credentials, citing her experience within the Committee for the Environment and Infrastructure, and her previous experience as an activist on environmental matters.
New candidate Thomas Moore said he believes in making “Guernsey fairer, more resilient, and forward thinking. I believe that our environmental policies should be built around pragmatic action and energy independence”. His ideas included developing local renewables, not just a wind farm.
Candidate Rosemary Henderson spoke about fish stocks and her concerns around over fishing and the risks posed to the island’s 12 mile territorial limit. She said in every aspect of political life her motto will be “get it right and get it going”.
Former Deputy Andy Le Lievre said his focus has previously been on social welfare issues, which he believes are linked with green issues, especially around the development of new houses.
Candidate Susie Gallienne suggested small scale initiatives such as incentives for local drivers to buy electric vehicles, and an environmental rating scheme for local projects to encourage a more green outlook overall for the island.
Deputy Sasha Kazantseva-Miller cited her past experience in setting up the Sustainable Business Initiative and projects she has supported within the States in her introduction.
After introductions, each candidate had 40seconds to answer each question that followed.
The first session saw the Blue Marine Foundation itself pose the first question.
It asked “what is your opinion on ‘Marine Protected Areas’ and how could they work in Guernsey”.
Forward Guernsey candidate Stuart Jehan said any new rules in Guernsey would need to be based on “robust ecological data” and in partnership with local stakeholders, and he suggested collaboration with Jersey too.
Independent candidate Sally Rochester said careful research is needed to ensure we know what our marine assets are so we can best protect them.
Candidate Jennifer Strachan said she’d “love to see a Marine Protected Area” in Guernsey but there are other more pressing environmental issues so she would prefer the States “wait and see” and digest any available data.
Deputy Aidan Matthews said he’d like to see more restrictions to prevent over-fishing in particular, which he thinks and MPA could help.
Deputy Tina Bury raised a concern that a Marine Protected Area is not clearly defined and other local work, including on a Marine Spacial Plan may be covering some of the issues already.
Deputy Andy Cameron said he would be “completely in favour” of an MPA, while Deputy John Gollop said he’d go further and support the creation of a ‘Marine National Park’ in our waters. Deputy Rob Prow said he “absolutely” supports efforts to bring in an MPA and supported other comments made by candidates before him.
Questions from the audience heard by Express included around what the island can do to position itself at the forefront of environmental matters, how development on the east coast will be managed around the locally protected scaly crickets, and what can be done to make roads safer, especially for children travelling to and from school.