My quote last night could have summed up the mood of the voting. It was by Martin Luther King Jr.:
“One of the great liabilities of history is that all too many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social change. Every society has its protectors of status quo and its fraternities of the indifferent who are notorious for sleeping through revolutions. Today, our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change.”
Well, the States Jersey seems to have decided to vote decisively for change.
Unless of course, you were Steve Luce on Channel TV, who said:
"It was very close all the way through, and I think we knew it was going to be tight, and that's the way it's proved to be."
Did he doze through the results? 30 to 19 doesn't strike me as tight! Please don't make him Treasury Minister. - Imagine - "we knew the new hospital would be about £400 million, and it turned out very close at £800 million."
I know that is rather sarcastic, but there is a chasm between what was and what might have been, and a politician should know that. In contrast, John Le Fondré himself was rather stunned by the gap being so much larger than he had anticipated - "Still getting over the shock. I thought it was going to be very close. I wasn't expecting this."
Of course if Reform’s votes had swung the other way, it would have been 25 to 24, which would have been close, but they didn’t and it wasn’t. History is what happens, not what might have happened.
It was interesting that Reform voted en bloc for John Le Fondré making it 30-19 rather than the closer 25-24. The Constables voted on either side – so much for their “block vote” for the Establishment.
In fact 8 voted for John Le Fondré, and only 4 for Ian Gorst. Notably all the new Constables in the Assembly voted for John le Fondré.
Other newcomers (outside of Reform)– David Johnson, Lindsay Ash, Kirsten Morel, Gregory Guida, Rowland Huelin, High Raymond, Trevor Pointon, Steve Ahier and Jess Perchard – along with returning member John Young – all voted John Le Fondré. By contrast, only Mary Le Hegarat and Kevin Pamplin voted for Ian Gorst.
I’d say that Ian Gorst’s biggest problem was having to keep on existing Ministers in some post or another, thereby limiting what he could offer, and thereby keeping the notion that at least some “old faces” would not change at all.
In his list of potential Ministers, he had:
Deputy Susie Pinel as the minister for health and social services
Deputy Steve Luce to return as the environment minister
As home affairs minister once again, Senator Kristina Moore
Senator Lyndon Farnham to return as minister for the economy, sport, tourism and culture
This also ties in with the fact that all existing Ministers and Assistant Ministers from the last States nominated Gorst.
John Le Fondré, by contrast, only announced 3 positions before, and given that he was standing on a “fresh start” platform means he could potentially have more spaces to fill from newcomers as well as older members who have been “out in the cold.” In fact, only Ian Gorst as External Relations Minister was a holdover from the previous Council of Ministers, and most people would see that as the best way of harnessing Ian Gorst’s expertise.
By playing his cards close to his chest – only giving out three names – Gorst, Valois and Mezec – Le Fondré ensured he could potentially have a clean sweep, making it more like one party, or at any rate proto-party, ousting the existing one. We will have to wait and see.
We might just see some new faces who have not been Assistant Ministers.
This is not unheard of – Ian le Marquand, Andrew Green and Freddie Cohen all came in to the States and became Ministers. , Francis Le Gresley came in a bi-election but became Minister in the next Senatorial election.
Given the amount of really good talent, John Le Fondré might have such a shakeup it feels almost like one party out of office and a new one in.
Reform did well – they were strong power-brokers. If a party of just 5 can have that effect, if they increase even to 8, they will start to really influence the choice of Chief Minister.
Sam Mezec was offered what is almost a sinecure with a place at the Council of Ministers table– Housing has no permanent civil servants as the old department was hived off to Andium but once restructuring has taken place he will also have offered a Children’s Minister remit in addition. Montfort Tadier and Geoff Southern will also potentially be Assistant Ministers in the deal, and some of the Reform Manifesto agenda will be taken on board.
I think some power and responsibility will be a good thing for Reform. It is one thing to criticise from the sidelines, but quite another to see what it is like from the inside of government.
In the past, Chief Officers have sometimes “advised” the Chief Minister on appointments behind the scenes. It was hostile briefings that stopped Zoe Cameron from coming in as Assistant Minister for Health - troublemaker, loose cannon etc etc . Will Social Security brief against Geoff Southern as Assistant Minister?
This is nothing new to Jersey – just watch “Yes Minister” or read UK political memoirs. Civil servants often don't want Ministers they can't control, and Ben Shenton faced considerable hostility when he took on health and was not Frank Walker's preferred nominee. It was dysfunctional, as he explained in detail to the care inquiry, and his attempt to put some proper process - like recording minutes, and who was actioned to do what - was not liked at all. Weekly meetings had been informal and purely verbal. It will be interesting to see if this has changed under Charlie Parker’s reform of the upper echelons of the civil service.
And finally, while John Le Fondré can nominate people, the States members can also provide other nominations - it is not clear cut, although as a rule, the Chief Minister’s nominations win through as he usually can count on all those who voted for him.
It did not happen however with TTS twice - Guy de Faye and Kevin Lewis were both NOT nominees. Ben Shenton was not nominee for Health Minister by Frank Walker, Philip Ozouf was not nominee for Treasury by Ian Gorst.
“One of the great liabilities of history is that all too many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social change. Every society has its protectors of status quo and its fraternities of the indifferent who are notorious for sleeping through revolutions. Today, our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change.”
Well, the States Jersey seems to have decided to vote decisively for change.
Unless of course, you were Steve Luce on Channel TV, who said:
"It was very close all the way through, and I think we knew it was going to be tight, and that's the way it's proved to be."
Did he doze through the results? 30 to 19 doesn't strike me as tight! Please don't make him Treasury Minister. - Imagine - "we knew the new hospital would be about £400 million, and it turned out very close at £800 million."
I know that is rather sarcastic, but there is a chasm between what was and what might have been, and a politician should know that. In contrast, John Le Fondré himself was rather stunned by the gap being so much larger than he had anticipated - "Still getting over the shock. I thought it was going to be very close. I wasn't expecting this."
Of course if Reform’s votes had swung the other way, it would have been 25 to 24, which would have been close, but they didn’t and it wasn’t. History is what happens, not what might have happened.
It was interesting that Reform voted en bloc for John Le Fondré making it 30-19 rather than the closer 25-24. The Constables voted on either side – so much for their “block vote” for the Establishment.
In fact 8 voted for John Le Fondré, and only 4 for Ian Gorst. Notably all the new Constables in the Assembly voted for John le Fondré.
Other newcomers (outside of Reform)– David Johnson, Lindsay Ash, Kirsten Morel, Gregory Guida, Rowland Huelin, High Raymond, Trevor Pointon, Steve Ahier and Jess Perchard – along with returning member John Young – all voted John Le Fondré. By contrast, only Mary Le Hegarat and Kevin Pamplin voted for Ian Gorst.
I’d say that Ian Gorst’s biggest problem was having to keep on existing Ministers in some post or another, thereby limiting what he could offer, and thereby keeping the notion that at least some “old faces” would not change at all.
In his list of potential Ministers, he had:
Deputy Susie Pinel as the minister for health and social services
Deputy Steve Luce to return as the environment minister
As home affairs minister once again, Senator Kristina Moore
Senator Lyndon Farnham to return as minister for the economy, sport, tourism and culture
This also ties in with the fact that all existing Ministers and Assistant Ministers from the last States nominated Gorst.
John Le Fondré, by contrast, only announced 3 positions before, and given that he was standing on a “fresh start” platform means he could potentially have more spaces to fill from newcomers as well as older members who have been “out in the cold.” In fact, only Ian Gorst as External Relations Minister was a holdover from the previous Council of Ministers, and most people would see that as the best way of harnessing Ian Gorst’s expertise.
By playing his cards close to his chest – only giving out three names – Gorst, Valois and Mezec – Le Fondré ensured he could potentially have a clean sweep, making it more like one party, or at any rate proto-party, ousting the existing one. We will have to wait and see.
We might just see some new faces who have not been Assistant Ministers.
This is not unheard of – Ian le Marquand, Andrew Green and Freddie Cohen all came in to the States and became Ministers. , Francis Le Gresley came in a bi-election but became Minister in the next Senatorial election.
Given the amount of really good talent, John Le Fondré might have such a shakeup it feels almost like one party out of office and a new one in.
Reform did well – they were strong power-brokers. If a party of just 5 can have that effect, if they increase even to 8, they will start to really influence the choice of Chief Minister.
Sam Mezec was offered what is almost a sinecure with a place at the Council of Ministers table– Housing has no permanent civil servants as the old department was hived off to Andium but once restructuring has taken place he will also have offered a Children’s Minister remit in addition. Montfort Tadier and Geoff Southern will also potentially be Assistant Ministers in the deal, and some of the Reform Manifesto agenda will be taken on board.
I think some power and responsibility will be a good thing for Reform. It is one thing to criticise from the sidelines, but quite another to see what it is like from the inside of government.
In the past, Chief Officers have sometimes “advised” the Chief Minister on appointments behind the scenes. It was hostile briefings that stopped Zoe Cameron from coming in as Assistant Minister for Health - troublemaker, loose cannon etc etc . Will Social Security brief against Geoff Southern as Assistant Minister?
This is nothing new to Jersey – just watch “Yes Minister” or read UK political memoirs. Civil servants often don't want Ministers they can't control, and Ben Shenton faced considerable hostility when he took on health and was not Frank Walker's preferred nominee. It was dysfunctional, as he explained in detail to the care inquiry, and his attempt to put some proper process - like recording minutes, and who was actioned to do what - was not liked at all. Weekly meetings had been informal and purely verbal. It will be interesting to see if this has changed under Charlie Parker’s reform of the upper echelons of the civil service.
And finally, while John Le Fondré can nominate people, the States members can also provide other nominations - it is not clear cut, although as a rule, the Chief Minister’s nominations win through as he usually can count on all those who voted for him.
It did not happen however with TTS twice - Guy de Faye and Kevin Lewis were both NOT nominees. Ben Shenton was not nominee for Health Minister by Frank Walker, Philip Ozouf was not nominee for Treasury by Ian Gorst.
So... interesting times ahead!
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1 comment:
David Johnson may not have been very noticeable , but he isn't a new member of the Assembly.
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