It is somewhat ironic that a man finishing his political career raising taxes began it by opposing them.
But that is exactly how Senator Alan Maclean entered Jersey politics – as one of the ‘angry men’ campaigning for cuts to States spending before any tax increases. In fact, he organised the ‘Black Tuesday’ Budget protest that saw 2,500 Islanders gather outside the States Chamber to harangue Members as they arrived to debate the 2004 Budget.
During his three and a bit years as Treasury Minister he has arrived at four such debates from the other side of the fence, albeit with less angry opponents on the other side.
And the 54-year-old – who this week announced that he is stepping down from politics after 12 years in the States – may have entered politics angry, but he is leaving optimistic about the future, both personally and politically, yet realistic that there remain challenges ahead for the next States Assembly.
Plus, he says that despite what some may perceive, he believes that he has remained true to his promise to electors all those years ago to look for efficiencies and reform the system before turning to taxes.
‘I never really called myself an angry man – that has always made me laugh,’ said Senator Maclean.
‘I have always considered myself quite a happy chappy. But like many people, and this will still resonate today, I entered politics partly out of frustration with what appeared to be inefficiency and waste in the public sector and waste of public funds. It seemed to be an overbloated organisation and that is what really drove me.’
He was elected as a Deputy in St Helier No 2 in 2005 and joined the newly elected Deputy Ian Gorst and Deputy John Le Fondré, together ‘rattling some cages’ after being tasked with visiting different departments to identify savings.
And while they found many, it was the need for wholesale change across the public sector in the way departments are run and the relationship between politicians and civil servants which left a lasting impression.
More than a decade on, and despite some positive steps and numerous reviews recognising the need for reform, there is little tangible difference.
But Senator Maclean is confident that this week’s States decision to overhaul the machinery of government – which includes giving the States chief executive responsibility for the whole of the civil service – will lead to the long-overdue changes that are desperately needed.
‘It has been extraordinarily difficult, one of the most difficult things in my time in the States, trying to get that change, but I have to say that what was passed through the States this week with the changes to the machinery of government was the most significant and historic change,’ he said.
‘It only got through 24 votes to 22 but that will have the greatest possible impact on breaking down the silos that have existed in the past. And it will help to deal with one of the things I have been concerned about and I know the public will be and that is transparency and openness in government. It will also lead to a streamlining of government.
‘And I am incredibly excited about the appointment of the new States chief executive Charlie Parker. He has delivered change three times in different places before and he has a proven track record.’
Exiting the States when such change is finally in sight is one of the Senator’s regrets.
But he will be taking with him many highlights from a career during which he has been Assistant Minister at Economic Development and then the department’s minister and then finally the Island’s Treasury Minister – mostly all while navigating the turbulent waters of the global financial crisis.
Those highlights, he says, include major projects like the incorporation of Ports of Jersey and the establishment of independent organisations such as Jersey Business, Digital Jersey, Visit Jersey and Locate Jersey to take on tasks that previously had been done by government.
But these also include smaller, still important, wins like the time early on in his career that he saved the Island’s historic signal station from closure after a doorstep conversation with a voter during the election campaign and the move from the old – and costly – system of Australian lifeguards patrolling Jersey’s beaches in the summer to the RNLI taking on the contract.
‘There have been some little things that have made a big difference to me personally and which have made me very satisfied,’ he said. ‘But if I had to sum up my time in one word it would probably be “challenging”. My period within the States coincided almost completely with the global financial crisis.’
Senator Maclean, who made the move to the Senatorial benches in 2008, will be remembered for many reasons, some of which naturally come back to tax. He is, after all, the politician who in recent years has overseen a broadening of the
tax base – including opening up the zero-ten tax regime at the last Budget, imposing a new retail tax and proposing a
new waste charge [which is currently on hold] and, unsuccessfully, a new health charge.
He has overseen or been involved with various spending reviews and is also known as the minister who authorised the controversial £200,000 grant for the ‘Knights of Impossingworth’ film that has never been made and was involved in the set up of the failed Jersey Innovation Fund – both of which he maintains were good ideas that were poorly executed.
And many Islanders will remember him most fondly for the part he played in the creation of the Millennium Town Park – or more accurately, the part his ringbinder played when it accidentally pushed the ‘pour’ button during a key vote on funding for the park.
‘I was the last person to speak in that debate and I spoke against it,’ he said. ‘And I won’t be the first and last person to have documentation on the table that pushed a button. However, mine happened to be the one where that one vote made a difference – and it was a £10 million one.
‘It was also my old district that benefited too, so the world has a funny way of doing things – maybe it was divine intervention. The buttons have since been changed.’
Senator Maclean, who is married to Nara, entered politics a relatively new father, with a 19-month old – Oscar – at home and a second baby – Hugo – born just days before his election.
The couple went on to have a third child – Bertie – and the Senator says that his experience of fatherhood has helped shape his views over the years.
‘Being a parent your perspective on lots of things changes, and it changes as the children grow up and you get exposed
to difference experiences with them,’ he said.
‘Having that experience of family life and the pressures that families can feel, and I don’t mean just financially, can give you perhaps a better understanding.’
Tragically, Oscar died in 2013, aged eight, of a brain tumour. Today his memory lives on via the Oscar Maclean Foundation,
set up by the family to support and work with local charities to help sick youngsters and raise awareness of childhood illnesses.
And it is partly down to family that Senator Maclean is now ready to withdraw from politics.
‘The boys are still young, Bertie is eight and Hugo is 12, and it is a very formative period for them,’ he said.
‘Twelve-and-a-half years is quite a commitment and I don’t personally think that in a small island politics should be a lifelong career – it is beneficial for more people to come in and add valuable experience to government. It is good to shake things up a bit.’
The Senator, who also plans to focus on his business and investment interests after leaving the States, added: ‘Despite the challenges it has been hugely rewarding. You really do have an opportunity to
make a difference and to be part of improving people’s lives, it is massively satisfying.
‘I have come into contact with some incredible people I perhaps wouldn’t have had the opportunity to meet otherwise – amazing, dedicated, hardworking and talented individuals. And I will miss that opportunity to be involved in that way. But you have got to move on, you can’t stand still in life.’
The angry man, it seems, has mellowed.
