One senatorial candidate has emerged as the clear favourite for Jersey’s business community after five election hopefuls were put through their paces at a closely watched lunch event.
Attendees at the Jersey Chamber of Commerce’s monthly gathering, who had voted to select the five speakers who would take part, chose Sir Mark Boleat, former political lead for the City of London, as the candidate who had impressed them the most at the event staged at the Radisson Blu Hotel.
Sir Mark, who failed to be elected in 2022 while representing the Jersey Alliance Party and is running as an independent this year, said he had first addressed a Chamber event in 1974.
Among the priorities cited by Sir Mark in his opening address were the need to bring public finances need to be brought under control and cutting red tape for business.
“If the government of Jersey was as efficient as the businesses of Jersey, we would be far more prosperous,” he said. “I want to play my part in getting there.”
The other speakers, ranked in the order they finished in the post-event poll were:
2. Deputy Tom Binet (current Health Minister)
After getting the most votes in the pre-event poll, the Health Minister was in combative form. Answering a question about whether plans for the redevelopment of Fort Regent were realistic, Deputy Binet said he would scrap the proposed scheme, turning the landmark back into a Fort and rediverting the majority of the proposed £110 million of public funds for the project into providing sports facilities elsewhere.
3. Deputy Ian Gorst (current External Relations Minister)
The External Relations Minister rose one place following his contribution. He said: “More than ever we need experienced, calm and serious leadership, and with businesses around the world craving stability, that is what Jersey must continue to offer. I have confidence [that] we have a resilient economy, but we cannot be complacent and that is why we will need a laser focus on economic growth.”
4. Alan Maclean (former Treasury Minister)
Also up one position after being ranked fifth in the pre-event vote, the ex-Treasury Minister spelled out his desire to return to the political fray after an eight-year absence. “I am definitely not standing because I need a political career,” he said. “I am standing because I care deeply about this island and because I know Jersey can do far better – together, let us stop the drift before it becomes a decline.”
5. Deputy Lyndon Farnham (current Chief Minister)
Jersey’s current Chief Minister dropped two places from his ranking going into the event. He listed examples of good progress since he had taken on the top job in January 2024 with a focus on “restoring stability across government, strengthening discipline in public finances, and getting government working together again” – these included the First Step scheme for home ownership, supporting young families by offering support for nursery education, implementing all 76 recommendations of the Violence Against Women and Girls Task Force report, and launching an action plan to reset and grow the finance sector.
Where are the women?
Some observers had criticised the make-up of the panel, with none of the four female candidates for Senator – Deputies Mary Le Hegarat, Helen Miles and Elaine Millar plus former international netball player Serena Kersten – making the top five.
Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Murray Norton acknowledged the gender imbalance, but said this had resulted from respecting the results of an agreed format for the poll of ticket holders, with candidates receiving between one and five points depending where they were ranked from one to five.
Mr Norton also conceded that there was an appreciable difference between the Chamber vote, which he described as “an interesting snapshot of business sentiment at this stage of the campaign”, and an election where tens of thousands of Islanders would have their say.
The nature of the vote had caused considerable conversation on social media – and among candidates themselves.
Current Treasury Minister and Senatorial hopeful Elaine Millar later took to LinkedIn to share her view that, while the “mini-vote has caused consternation in some quarters… we shouldn’t let it distract us from the role women are actually playing in senior roles in all sectors”, going on to give several “remarkable” examples.
Who else is standing for Senator?
The other eight candidates standing for election to the Island-wide role, but were ranked outside the top five of the Chamber poll, were two current ministers, Deputies Steve Luce (Environment) and Sam Mézec (Housing), two former States Members – Alan Breckon and Guy De Faye – and four potential newcomers to the Assembly: Martin Aliga, Karl Busch, Alan Le Pavoux and Bernard Place.
