ONE of the unusual things about the Senatorial elections is the emergence of factions on the platform.
Although only two of the 21 candidates are members of a formal political party, more than half of them fit into one of four distinct groups: ministers, the Jersey Democratic Alliance, Time4Change and Jersey 2020.
The platform is a broad one, and the factions will help Islanders to make decisions about what direction they want the States to take post-election. One of the problems with past elections is that without party politics, it could be difficult for voters to associate candidates with policies.
The ministers
Social Security Minister Paul Routier, Education Minister Mike Vibert, Economic Development Minister Philip Ozouf, Assistant Social Security Minister Peter Troy and Assistant Economic Development Minister Alan Maclean.
This election is as much a verdict on ministerial government as anything else, and that means all the ministers – and their assistants – are in it together. All five of the candidates have followed the ministerial line pretty faithfully over the last three years, and the two Deputies were actually appointed to their assistant ministerial positions by their colleagues on the platform.
The Jersey Democratic Alliance
Deputy Geoff Southern and Trevor Pitman.
The JDA are the only political party to have members in the States, and the only party formally registered with the Royal Court under new party regulation legislation – although their candidates stood as independents in the last Deputy elections. The left-leaning party have been around since 2005. Deputy Southern is a party stalwart and youth worker Mr Pitman is the party chairman.
Time4Change
Montfort Tadier and Nick Le Cornu.
The Time4Change group emerged out of protests and meetings over the historical child abuse inquiry and the levying of the 3% Goods and Services Tax. Mr Tadier and Mr Le Cornu are founder-members and are standing on a reform platform centering on the 2000 Clothier Report, repeal of GST, more recycling and economic diversification.
Jersey 2020
Mark Forskitt, Nick Palmer and Daniel Wimberley. Like Time4Change, the three Jersey 2020 candidates are not members of a formal party – they are a looser, more informal alliance. In particular, the three candidates are signed up to a joint ‘green’ platform. All three candidates are experienced and knowledgeable environmentalists – all are against the new £110m incinerator and all are in favour of more recycling and encouragement of domestic energy production and insulation grants.
