Some boundary streams in a Constable painting |
Constable’s Elections
Some interesting discussions online on Facebook, after Monty
Tadier posted:
“This is the sad state of rural Jersey politics where such a
headline is possible: the news is no longer that there will be a contested
election in St Martin, but that there is any candidate prepared to do the job
at all. Like some of the other smaller parishes, they are mathematically
over-represented in the States, as shown by electoral reform reports, time
after time: yet they continue to have two representatives, whilst St Helier, St
Clement and St Saviour are under-represented (but contested).”
“This will surely be the last election carried out with
ancient constituency boundaries dictated by streams and the pre-reformation
church establishment. We need fair votes, fair representation and a simplified
electoral system.”
I asked the question why Reform are targetting easy urban
options and are not themselves fielding candidates for Constable?
Nick Le Cornu told me that he had contested an election: “In
1996 I stood for Constable of St Brelade: to give the electorate a choice and
jump start a contested election. Thirty years later nothing has changed and
most Constables today will be elected without a contest”
But another commentator argued that they would not stand for
a post that they wanted abolished:
“Given Monty Tadiers comment in the initial post it appears
that they believe Jersey traditions such as Constables sitting in the States
should be abolished which would explain why they are not going for any
Constables seats. Perhaps they should also allow Jerriais to fall by the
wayside at the same time. Also Constables have a real job to do in running the
Parish and I suspect some of Reforms' candidates may struggle with that.”
Another wanted some role for the Constable’s in the
legislature:
“I’d agree to the equal sized constituencies and one type of
States Member. Can’t fault that. I’ve
also got a traditionalist respect for the Parish system and the Committe des
Connetables and would propose some kind of upper house containing the
Connetables spearheading a second scrutiny type role.”
Meanwhile the same commentator as before argued forcibly
that Reform had good reasons for not fielding any candidate for Constable:
“It isn’t a ‘Jersey tradition’ to have Constables in the
States, it’s a part of an outdated, gerrymandered anti-democratic system that
ensures the dominance of conservative rural parishes at the expense of people
in town. They’re not going for Constable seats as they believe Constables
shouldn’t be in the States - it’s a matter of principle. Don’t even start on
Jerriais - Reform are virtually the only ones talking about preserving it.”
The trouble with excusing particular positions is that
history can have a nasty way of undermining them. As Reform are now contesting
St Brelade’s Constable seat, I shall await with interest the answer to my question
“Having given me reasons why Reform are not contesting a
Constable's election, can anyone tell me why they actually are, given all the
reasons why not?”
It is even more acute because 10 of the 12 Constable's seats are not contested. Why not? Clearly there is no principle by which Reform would say they would not contest a seat they wanted abolished from the States, as they are fielding one candidate in St Brelade. Why have they not contested more Constable's seats? If Reform are going to complain, we deserve an answer.
Of course the main problem here is the Constable’s
Referendum. According to Russell Labey it was held at the same time as a
general election, which was a bad idea because people’s minds were on other
things. Evidently the average voter is incapable of multitasking!!
In fact, one reason it was held then was to ensure a good
turnout. As the ABC Referendum on States Reform showed, if you hold a
Referendum at another time, the turnout is rubbish. The ABC Referendum was
voted against in the States because the turnout was considered too low. No one
could say that about the Constable’s referendum. So other excuses are found for the result.
It is true thought, that if Reform had supported the No Campaign, it would have been stronger. Indeed talk of a Referendum was enough to rouse Mike Dun who
said that:
“Reform boycotted the vote in 2014 that led to the Yes - No Referendum and then boycotted the official Referendum that might have ended the Constables farce once and for all.”
Monty Tadier countered:
“Not really true, Mike. We took a position on it and had the
‘Non Mèrcie’ logo on all our literature. But we did not have the resources of
the pro-Constable business party to be able to run an election campaign and a
campaign on a (biased and flawed) referendum question at the same time”
But Mike came back:
“More untruth - all candidates had a view of course but
there was an official Yes - No Referendum which Reform decided to boycott from
the outset. You could have and should have supported the official No campaign
and so have helped to challenge the establishment. Reform had of course voted
against the Referendum taking place at all. Such is the hypocrisy.”
I am glad we have a contested election for Constable in St
Brelade. Contests are always good for democracy, although it does seem strange
that the candidate for Constable wants to remove the Constables from the
States. Would they stand if the
Constable’s were not in the States?
In 2017, St Peter Port had a contested election for
Constable. The current Constable, Jenny Tasker, retained her post at the St Peter Port parish
elections. Constable Tasker defeated Rosemary Henderson with 280 votes to 72. There
was a 5% turnout, with 352 people voting - this compares to 376 people last
year. There are 7,040 voters.
There really isn’t a Parish system in Guernsey. And recently
St Peter Port struggled to get all the Parish posts elected. Something to ponder.
1 comment:
It is quite hard to find people in the country parishes who will support a progressive party to the extent of putting their names on a Nomination paper. It is quite likely that Reform don't even have ten members in each of the Northern parishes, let alone ones who will want to do anything as public as nominate a candidate.
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