Anthony Lewis, who was left with reduced mobility and the communication disorder aphasia after his stroke, said he intends to campaign on a platform of environmental issues and disability rights.
The 49-year-old former JEP assistant editor has raised thousands for disability charities through a string of endurance challenges. He has admitted that campaigning for the election will be a challenge but one that he is positive he will be able to overcome.
Mr Lewis, who uses technology to help him communicate and a specialist set of glasses which allow him to ‘read’ text through word-recognition software and an earpiece, was awarded the Adult Courage Award at the 2012 national Stroke Association’s Life After Stroke Awards.
Should he be successful, it is thought Mr Lewis would be the first disabled States Member.
He said that he was ‘excited, but nervous’ to be putting himself forward as a Senatorial candidate and said that should he be successful he would have both ‘personal and technological support’ to assist him in his role as a States Member.
Mr Lewis, who as well as working for the JEP also previously worked for Channel 103, raised concerns during the 2014 Senatorial hustings about the level of support available to disabled Islanders.
He said that since then the States had taken positive steps to improve the Island’s disability strategy – including with proposals for the Disability Discrimination Law which could come into force in 2019. However, he added that more needed to be done to improve the lives of disabled Islanders and that ‘we need the same – disabled and able – for everyone’.
Mr Lewis added that he also wanted to tackle the Island’s much-maligned population policy as well as transport and environmental issues.
He will be formally nominated as a candidate by former JEP editor Chris Bright. Mr Bright said: ‘Having known Anthony as a friend and colleague for over 30 years, I believe he has the qualities needed to be a highly effective politician of the kind Jersey badly needs.
‘He was an exceptionally talented and successful journalist, and his achievements since suffering a stroke have demonstrated that he is also a remarkable person whose courage and determination have been inspirational.’
