More young professionals would be encouraged to stand for election if their existing pay was matched up to a cap, a well-known businessman and commentator has suggested.
Kevin Keen said that there needed to be a serious discussion about politicians’ pay if voter turnout was going to improve in June from the last election’s 41%, which is among the lowest in the developed world.
People were more likely to vote for candidates of their own generation, he said, so it was important to make it more viable for islanders of working age to throw their hat into the political ring.
Stressing that he was speaking in a personal capacity, Mr Keen, who is currently chair of Jersey Post and has held various other senior roles, said: “Many States Members are now at an age where they don’t have to worry about the mortgage and getting through university, so the current pay is manageable and maybe even attractive.
“Where I think we are missing is younger people – I am 68 now, so most people are young to me! – with professional qualifications and experience who might be able to add diversity of skills and be better able to represent the younger members of our community and therefore get them voting.”
Mr Keen, who co-founded the not-for-profit Leadership Jersey, suggested successful candidates should be eligible to claim a pay supplement based on their proven pre-election income, capped at £100,000 plus normal States Members’ pay, which is currently £59,874.
So, the maximum an elected politician could earn would be just shy of £160,000. This would, he said, lead to more diversity and experience in the Assembly.
Mr Keen added: “If you’re a qualified accountant or lawyer or engineer etc and you are at a good point in your career, it would probably be impossible to drop down to a politician’s current salary.
“However, I am proposing a supplement up to what someone was being paid, so I’m not saying that someone who was paid £50,000 will now be on £160,000 – there is a safety net in place.”
He added: “Out of a total public sector salary and wage costs of £670m, arguably the 49 most important people to our island only share £3m, which seems pretty immaterial to me.”
Mr Keen said he was keen to come up with some discussion points between now and the next election, which he was posting on social media.
Asked why he thought voting was important, he replied: “The example that I give to people is if you look to the USA, 77 million people voted for Trump, 75 million voted for Kamala Harris, and 89 million didn’t bother to vote for anybody – and look how that turned out.”
And the reason why more people do not vote?
Mr Keen replied: “I think we are all a bit complacent and frankly apathetic. We can blame politicians and say there is nobody I want to vote for, but I think the main thing is that most of us are just too bone idle to take our responsibility seriously. And you can quote me on that.”