States Reform

It’s been a year since Ministerial Government was first introduced to the island and now politicians are working on the next stage of reform.

Now, the States is looking to make changes to when, and how, politicians are elected.

That work has included two opinion surveys, a lengthy public consultation exercise and, importantly, the "in committee" debate which took place between States Members a month ago.

The report by PPC talks about their appreciation for the idea of a General Election but they've questioned whether it is right for Jersey.

Although the MORI survey showed people liked the idea of a General Election, PPC believe it is more because some people are concerned that - at the moment - membership of the entire Assembly is not renewed before members gather to decide on a Chief Minister and other members in positions of responsibility.

We published the options on bbc.co.uk/jersey and had a poll to see which one you would most be interested in.

The Poll

Around 500 people took part in our own, non-scientific, self selecting poll. Those taking part heavily favoured options five and two.

The proposal being put forward by PPC is a combination of options three and four. In the poll those two options received around 1% of the vote between them.

8, 12, 29

Under the new proposals by PPC 8 Senators, 12 Constables and 29 Deputies would be elected. PPC believe it could be confusing for the public as the electors and the campaigns for the various offices could get muddled in the build up.

They have suggested a day to elect Senator and Constables, a two to three week break, followed by the election of the Deputies.

It said a single election day for Senators, Deputies and Constables could allow one person to stand for all three positions.

One of the concerns brought up on the BBC Radio Jersey phone-in and discussions on bbc.co.uk/jersey was that with the current format someone could stand for Senator, not get in and then stand again for Deputy.

We put this to Constable Gray. BBC Jersey’s John Uphoff asked "So does that mean someone could still stand a Senator, fail to get in as a Senator and still stand as a Deputy?"

Constable Gray then went on to explain that "it’s not getting enough votes, that’s not failing is it – somebody has got more votes then you. I don’t think you can class it as a failure.

"I think this is where the misconception comes. People say 'well they failed as a Senator' but they do have to have enough votes to be elected as a Deputy as well and it is quite possible that if they stand as a Deputy they may not get enough votes in the constituency they stand for.

"I don’t class not having enough votes to be a failure."

One of the options originally put forward had a solution to that problem. It suggested only having a single office – all members of the States of Jersey the same and elected in the same way.

Another solution could have been to limit members to only standing for a single office on the General Election day.

What’s happening next

The next phase is for these proposals to be put to the States of Jersey for debate and vote.

Constable Derek Gray explained the next process. He told BBC Jersey that "in a fortnight time on 1 May this will be debated and decided upon.

"Once that’s decided upon it will then be put into the hands of Privileges and Procedures to draft the relevant laws and to put them in place."

The original paper suggested there would be a referendum as part of the public consultation paper, before any decisions were made.

Constable Gray also mentioned this. He said “there was one amendment that we did put to Senator Shenton and that was to ask for a referendum. If the states agree to that we hope that it would take place before the summer break.”

‘The Senatorial Six’

There is a also a problem in that six of the Senators sitting in the current States Assembly will still be in office when these changes are due to come in.

The next election is next year. Six of the Senators will still have three years left on their mandate - which means they don't have to stand down and go for re-election.

Instead of enforcing change on them, PPC have opted for a voluntary system - whereby the Senators can stand down if they want to.

If not, they will stay in office until their mandate runs out in December 2011 and will not be replaced until the spring of the following year. From this election in 2012 all Senators will be on four year terms - not six.

It will however reduce to 49 in 2011 when the six Senators terms of office run out.

Over to you

What do you think of the proposals put forward by PPC? Do you agree with the idea of an election period instead of a single general election day?

What about the make-up of the States – 8 Senators, 12 Constables and 29 Deputies? Have PPC got the right mix with these proposals or is this a missed opportunity?

Should members be allowed to stand for more than one office at election time or should they be limited to standing for one office only?

Do you agree with Constable Gray when he says "I don’t class not having enough votes to be a failure?"