Mr Maclean, who chose not to seek re-election last month, said that Reform’s small gains in last month’s election, increasing numbers from three States Members to five, were enough to give them a bloc to make power moves in the Chamber.
With one bloc operating, there may be no other way to counter than by forming a competing party, he said.
‘I have never been someone who is very supportive of party politics but I watched Reform Jersey with interest,’ he said. ‘They are not the only party Jersey has ever had, but certainly in recent times they have been the only party. To their credit, they produced a fairly detailed manifesto for the election. They put forward 18 or so candidates.
‘I think it was clear from the outcome of the election that the policies they were promoting were not policies that found great favour with the majority of the electorate.’
Only five of the 18 Reform candidates were successful.
Mr Maclean also pointed to the fact that party chairman Senator Mézec only narrowly beat Moz Scott to secure the final Senatorial seat by just 123 votes.
‘Despite this, they have rather skilfully managed to broker a deal to put themselves at the heart of government,’ he said. The party made a deal with Chief Minister John Le Fondré in which they would vote for him for the top job in exchange for him agreeing to pursue a number of their priorities and nominate Senator Mézec for Housing Minister and make Deputies Montfort Tadier and Geoff Southern assistant ministers within other departments.
‘They now have a seat at the Council of Ministers and at least two assistant ministers,’ said Mr Maclean.
‘It is quite interesting how a party that was almost, as a result of the electoral process, written off – if their chairman had not made it, the future of the party would have been quite questionable.
‘But they have managed to, rather skilfully, become power-brokers in the Chief Minister’s election.’
While Mr Maclean said he is not against Reform having a seat at the table, he questioned whether the method was truly democratic.
‘Should that be able to happen, with a potentially close Chief Minister’s vote, where you have a group who are operating as a team or a party?’ he asked. ‘It’s interesting what they have managed to achieve from a relatively weak position.
‘It does lead me to start questioning whether, indeed, there is a future for party politics in the Island or, indeed, there needs to be some serious thought given to that as a potential outcome.’
When Reform’s deal with new Chief Minister John Le Fondré was published and then criticised by some, Reform quickly responded by comparing the deal to one struck between Mr Maclean and Senator Ian Gorst in 2014 for the former to stand aside from the Chief Minister race in exchange for accepting the post of Treasury Minister.
The difference was that deal took place behind closed doors, the party said, with no details ever being published.
But Mr Maclean rejected that comparison. While ‘discussions’ had always taken place, he said, ‘there has never been, in the past, a bloc of people who has been able to go around and say, “We are a block. This is what we believe. If you want our votes…”
‘It’s very different. Me as one person doesn’t really have the same sway as when you’ve got five.’
