Deputies Elections - St Peter 1993

1993 saw a contested election in St Peter, in which the sitting Deputy retained his seat, although when he became Constable, the contender Robin Hacquoil would become Deputy after all, and stood as such in 1996.

Robin Hacquoil described his occupation as "consultant", although elsewhere it has been given as "freelance management consultant", and who worked for worked in the public sector in Canada from 1957 to 1987, although he doesn't specify exactly what he did there. But in true Jersey style, lest he be thought to be an outsider, he makes a solid pitch for his Jersey roots - "son of the parish blacksmith" - and you just can't really beat that!

The spectre of unemployment loomed high on the general political agenda, and it is difficult, with the passage of years, to realised how great the menace from drugs was perceived to be by the public and politicians. Tom Du Feu focuses on this, although he doesn't really come down much in the way of specifics. I can imagine Yes Minister's Jim Hacker coming out with this:

'Unemployment, the demands on our welfare system and the increasing drugs problem must be dealt with firmly to eliminate any further erosion of the fabric of family and social life'

But when he goes on about "mature stability", he is simply becoming incoherent. What on earth does the term mean? I think he is trying to suggest that a long serving politician ("mature") like himself will provide "stability", but it is a horrendous garbling of the English language; I'm not sure that John Prescott could do better.

That Jersey must "hold on to its charm and character and guard against having change for its own sake" is again a cliché. I've never heard a politician saying we must have change for its own sake!

Robin Hacquoil, by contrast, doesn't harp on the negative aspects of Jersey nearly so much, either for "holding on" or "guarding against", and doesn't mention unemployment or drugs, although he does mention welfare, and he doesn't talk in clichés!

No doubt from his experience in management, he comes across as someone who knows what the States needs - "'I shall strive vigorously to control public expenditure". With the hindsight of present economy measures, one wonders how much he really achieved of significance from 1993 to 2002; I was tempted to say "what went wrong"! But to be quite fair, States over-spending, as we all know, is something like a Hydra - cut off one tentacle here, and two more take its place.

Although retired from the States, Robin Hacquoil still takes an active interest in politics. Notably, he said in 2004 that "the Visite Royale is out of date and does not serve parishioners", thus missing the point that of course it is hopelessly out of date, but it is a wonderful piece of pageantry. To have lawyers out and about, arguing over the merits of a tree, or whether a walkway should be a public pathway, is quaint, and not really necessary - but it gets the lawyers out of the Courtroom, walking along the lanes of different Parishes each year, coming together, and I think that must be a good thing. In fact, in 2009, he gave a more nuanced comment, which paints a wonderful picture that I'd fully endorse:

The pity is that such ceremonies have lost their feudal quality by making the visits to the parishes in limousines and buses rather than with Bailiff and Jurats on horseback in full ceremonial dress as it used to be, and the parishioners following on foot behind. Suitably choreographed and presented, it could be a ceremony of great tourist interest similar to some of the many ceremonies which occur in Britain in full Royal regalia

In 2009, in respect of a consultation on the media, Robin Hacquoil gave a "plague on all your houses" submission, in which he criticised even-handedly both blogs and the local media:

I feel very strongly that the States cannot afford to rely on the Jersey media any longer to disseminate information accurately. The JEP has become a tabloid & is more interested in photo coverage rather than hard news. The BBC is slightly better and at least covers States debates but they are now so long-winded and drawn out, only the bedridden can remain tuned in. What I would like to see is a periodic (weekly or monthly) summary of new policies approved & their impact on us when implemented. It should be brief and factual and should be issued on behalf of Jersey government (I was going to say by the Chief Minister's Office but perhaps it should come from the Greffier's Office). It should be strenuously apolitical. It would go out on the internet & one could subscribe to receive it. Blogs are for the birds & are not my definition of media. In my view, the States simply cannot afford to have blogs and the local media distorting the facts.

And in 2010, he also gave a submission to the Carswell report on the role of the Bailiff, which while acknowledging the quality of service provided by the Bailiff, he came out strongly against keeping the role as it was:

I should declare myself from the start to be an enthusiastic supporter of Clothier's recommendations and to be disappointed that his full recommendations have so far not been adopted by the States of Jersey.

I do consider the role of Bailiff as Civic Head of the island to be an outdated anomaly now that we have Ministerial Government. I wish to see as soon as possible the Bailiff of Jersey relinquish his role as Civic Head and concentrate on his quite onerous duties as Head of the Royal Court. The chief spokesperson for the island on all political and constitutional matters should be the Chief Minister (or his/her deputy) i.e. our elected representatives. It is no longer appropriate in the twenty-first century to have a civic head and spokesman appointed by the Monarch... My final point relates to the Bailiff's additional role as President or Chairman of the States Assembly. While I consider that both the present and past incumbent of that role were excellent in maintaining respectful and fair traditions of debate in the States, I always felt that their time and energy would have been put to greater effect in legal and Royal Court matters

Tom du Feu, in the meantime, was later elected Constable of St Peter in 2000, retiring in 2008. But he was never as vocal as Robin Hacquoil in presenting reasoned coherent arguments - perhaps Constables, as a rule, are not - which gave the public a respite from having any more "mature stability" speeches to contend with.

Deputies Elections - St Peter 1993

Tom du Feu
Occupation: Proprietor
Age: 50

DEPUTY Tom du Feu, who is facing his first contested election in nine years, believes that the Island faces difficult times ahead.

'Unemployment, the demands on our welfare system and the increasing drugs problem must be dealt with firmly to eliminate any further erosion of the fabric of family and social life,' he says.

His involvement in parish affairs goes back 30 years, and in the States he serves on IDC, Housing, Sport and Gambling.

He believes that Jersey must hold on to its charm and character and guard against having change for its own sake - and also that industry must continue to he supported to ensure that a high standard of health care is maintained.

'We must continue to support our agriculture, finance and tourism as well as giving ever, encouragement to light industry providing it is economically achievable in the Island,' he says.

'The benefits are essential to maintain the care for our community of all ages at a time when mature stability and thought must be adopted by everyone.'

The Deputy is involved with many parish and Island sports organisations and is the president of St Peter's Football Club and the Jersey European Football Combination.

Robin Hacquoil
Occupation: Consultant
Age: 61

ROBIN Hacquoil wants to return Jersey to full employment and develop a highly skilled workforce as the 21st century approaches.

Mr Hacquoil, the son of the parish blacksmith, grew up in St Peter, where he lives today with wife Marleen. He believes that Jersey should preserve its quality of life and the 'much cherished' parochial honorary system.

'We need to provide support for small businesses, agriculture, fisheries and light industry. We must continue to nurture the finance and tourism industries which contribute so much to our prosperity.' he says.

Mr Hacquoil lists membership of the executive council of the Jersey Chamber of Commerce, the Youth Training Board. the Employment Enterprise Board, the Jersey Training Agency and the management committee of St Peter's Youth and Community Centre as contributions he has made to Island life.

'I shall strive vigorously to control public expenditure, but not at the expense of education, health, housing or social services such as old age pensions.' he says.

An Oxford University modern languages graduate, Mr Hacquoil worked for the Canadian government for 30 years before returning to Jersey in 1987.

Deputies Elections - Grouville 1993

Grouville has often had only around two candidates for the one Deputy's seat. In 1993, however, there were four. One, a sitting Deputy who had moved from a St Helier district, was to fail.

Dan Murphy was also to fail in his bid, but would later become Constable of the Parish. His occupation is one of the vaguest - "consultant", although he tells us it has something to do with "property-related financing", whatever that means. In the road to Constable, he would largely lose the nick-name "Spud" which he had for a long time, way back to when he was working in finance at Walford Merchant Bank in St Helier (in the currency market area, I think), which is when I first knew of him. Of course "traditional" nicknames were more common then - "Spud" Murphy, "Dusty" Miller, "Chalky" White, "Knobby" Clarke - we don't hear them so much today.

The threat of drugs seem to have been a very much more dominant issue in 1993 than they are today. That doesn't mean that the problem has gone away - the recent case of the Columbus Street butchers who packed drugs in cold meat shows that, and every month or two someone is sentenced for a drug related offense. But the public perception - and the political perception - has certainly altered significantly. It is no longer an issue high on the agenda at the electoral stump. The suggestions here are always harsher penalties as a deterrent, rather than better intelligence to catch and stamp out dealers. But there is a suggestion of better leisure facilities to engage young people to help deal with some of the root causes. Unfortunately, the leisure situation for young people, especially below 18, is still very poor although steps like football clubs have certainly moved some way to help.

The unfairness of the rating system which we have seen criticised in St Brelade and St Clement is again prominent, and the French system of assessment by area is mentioned; one that I've personally been in favour of, as any rating systems which depended partly upon room counts (as the Jersey one does) can be vitiated by removal of doors and merging rooms together - much as the ancient "window tax" in England was circumvented by the use of boarding up windows. The Jersey system is changing gradually, with the finer tuning of room use - a kitchen /diner is now counted separately from a kitchen and dining room as separate, as is a double or single bedroom, so matters are improving. But rating still has a largely subjective element, and whether it could be validated by double-bind experiments is unlikely.

It is interesting that Deputy Rabet mentions the "pillars of our economy"- and orders them "tourism, agriculture and finance". By 1993, agriculture was already in considerable decline, and the tourism boom of the post-war year had largely vanished by the late 1980s, when the cheap package holidays to exotic destinations grabbed the market away from Jersey. The perception, however, was still that tourism was a significant part of the economy, and the mass selling off of tourism stock to convert into luxury flats was some way away.

The clichés are still there, although "a proven ability to get things done" was to change to today's "proven track record", which gets said so many times that I often feel like saying "change the record, please". Variations on "new faces, new ideas and the will to push them through" were popular in the 1990s, although "new faces" always will to people of my generation, bring to mind a popular talent show on television in which Tony Hatch did a hatchet job on would be hopefuls, rather like an early "X-Factor". Now there's an idea to revitalise the hustings!

Curbing development in Grouville is a central plank of everyone's campaign here, and a connection is being made with immigration. Sadly, then as now, no one really got to grips with immigration problems. It is interesting to see the States Loan still being mentioned. Someone I spoke to suggested it might be an idea to bring it back - it was a good scheme for helping first time buyers get a rung on the property ladder, and the interest rate, while subsidised, would rise if their income went up.

Secrecy in the States rears its head again. The situation hasn't improved greatly yet until Freedom of Information legislation comes in. Ministers are happy to take credit for successes, but responsibility for any mistakes is dispersed generally, and question time has largely become an arena in which Ministers try the "Michael Howard/Jeremy Paxman" line of trying to avoid saying anything in reply to the question. Recently John Le Fondre asked the same question five times and ended up being told many vague things, but not the answer to the question he was asking. Questions on terms and conditions for employment of senior Chief Officers were also dismissed by Terry Le Sueur as "confidential matters", although after pay-outs of £750,000 recently to two former Chief Officers (who left their posts early of their own choice), you would think it was a matter of public concern.

"Green Issues" were beginning to make an impact in the voting population, Nigel Queree being the first prominent Senator with that as a main part of his mandate - and I still remember him trying to save oak trees a year or so back, when he rushed to "hug them" and prevent the chain-saws from starting. Imogen Nicholls was standing on a Green Platform, although apart from "many of the Island's recurring problems are interconnected ", there is nothing specifically Green mentioned here. Women's issues - inequality, pornography and abortion - feature strongly, and it is notable that they do not get a mention with the other candidates, who are, of course, all men. Imogen Nicholls was, in fact, elected Deputy; perhaps a different perspective helped.

There was a huge struggle to get the Women's refuge off the ground, with shameful prevarication and delays, and in 1993, the Island was simply paying for people to go the UK for abortions, and pretending that abortions did not happen over here, so the Island was thereby more "moral". In fact, abortions were happening, and being funded by the tax-payer, but because they happened off-island, the moral majority were quite happy; it was a peculiar kind of hypocrisy. It wasn't until Stuart Syvret's time as President of Health that this was finally changed, against considerable opposition..

Deputies Elections - Grouville 1993

David Cadoret
Occupation: Grower
Age: 46

A CENTENIER since January 1992, David Cadoret has also been chairman of the young Farmers Club and bulb and flower chairman of the Jersey Farmers Union.

He joined the honorary service in 1981 and was a Roads Inspector for six years and Constables Officer for Longueville for six years.

Mr Cadoret has always been interested in politics, and feels that he now has the time, energy and enthusiasm 'to enter the political arena'. He thinks that Jersey's rating system is very unfair, with identical houses paying different rates, and feels that we should adopt the French method of assessment by the square metre, so that people pay the same rate regardless of how they improve their property.

He believes that law and order must he maintained with stiffer penalties. 'The vandalism and assault currently being experienced cannot be tolerated, and the "soft-softly" approach should be abandoned for far stiffer sentences,' he said. 'The menace of the drug problem must also be eradicated to stop suppliers corrupting our young people.'

He also wants to curb luxury development in Grouville and concentrate on developing small cul-de-sac areas suitable for States Loan starter homes.

Daniel Murphy
Occupation: Consultant
Age: 53

COMMONLY known as 'Spud', Daniel Murphy was born in Grouville and educated at Grouville School and Victoria College.

He worked in finance until 1971 and since then has been self-employed in property-related financing in the UK, USA and Ireland.

He is opposed to any large-scale development in Grouville, but not against infilling or small unit developments providing they are low-cost or States Loan category.

He is concerned about anomalies in the rating system, and proposes that the Island should be professionally rated and that new properties should be valued and rated on completion.

Mr Murphy believes that the drug problem should be tackled by harsher sentencing of dealers and by providing more sport and leisure facilities for young people.

He considers that the winter work scheme is only a temporary solution to unemployment and that re-training and subsidies for new employers are helpful.

He feels that the issue of secrecy in States Departments must be addressed immediately. He also proposes that an Audit Committee is set up to call politicians and civil servants to account for their spending He thinks that Jersey needs new faces, new ideas and the will to push them through.

Imogen Nicholls
Occupation: Music teacher
Age: 35

IMOGEN Nicholls was educated at Beaulieu and the Royal Academy of Music. After a successful singing and teaching career in Oxford, she set up a music school in Jersey in 1990.

She is a member of the Green Party and chairperson of the Jersey Woman's Aid group. She says that the election of a Deputy is also the election of a politician who will share the responsibility of governing the entire Island, and feels that parish problems can only he solved on this basis. For example, she feels that the creeping urbanisation of Grouville can only he prevented by strategic government planning and an effective immigration policy.

She has spoken out publicly about the Longbeach development and Grouville Annexe, and on various contentious women's issues, including inequality, pornography and abortion.

She feels that many of the Island's recurring problems are interconnected and that Jersey stands at a political crossroads. 'As a businesswoman and mother. I well understand the need to plan for our long-term future,

'We must set aside short-term expediency and elect States Members capable of leading our community towards the 21st century, she says.

Graeme Rabet
Occupation: Proprietor
Age: 54

GRAEME Rabet has been Deputy of St Helier No 1 district for six years.

Semi-retired, he worked in the motor industry for 35 years. He has been president of Tourism and of the Occupation and Liberation Committee, and has also served on other committees, including Agriculture and Fisheries, Housing, Postal, Public Services Sport, Leisure and Recreation.

He has been chairman of the Jersey Battle of Flowers Association, vice-chairman of the Public Lotteries Board, and a member of the Jersey Conference Bureau.

He feels that we must continue to support the pillars of our economy - tourism, agriculture and finance - because the money these generate helps to pay for services we have come to expect like health and social security.

Deputy Rabet wants Grouville to remain rural with no more large building development and believes in controlled immigration. He is also concerned about parish and unemployment, wants more leisure facilities in the east of the Island, and thinks that preservation of the countryside and maintenance of the honorary system are vital.

He believe in the election of States Members who work for electorate and who have a proven ability to get things done.

Deputies Elections - St Brelade No 2 1993

St Brelade's number 2 districts always garners more candidates that St Brelade No 1. Perhaps it is because with a single seat, as No 1 district, there is always going to be just one winner, whereas No 2 allows votes not only to choose their preferred candidate, but also to hand out a vote to a second choice, so there is much more to be gained - a vote for X is not necessarily a vote lost for Y.

Traffic seems to have been one of the large issues. The Bel Royal/St Aubin problem - the fact that there is a bottleneck road, with traffic coming / going down Beaumont Hill and coming / going along La Haule - still remains. I remember there was an idea of buying up land and making a gyratory system, perhaps like the one which works very successfully to reduce traffic at junctions around the bottom of Wellington Hill looping around Stopford Road. But nothing ever came of this, and traffic filters slowly and sluggishly in turn, as two streams merge into one heading into town, and are crossed over by traffic going up Beaumont.

Mr Bewers indeed took a very early retirement at 52. There is no indication in the literature what he did as a company director, and why he could retire so young. It is interesting how some of the same campaign strategies keep cropping up - "a new and refreshed style of political representation" is one such, and I also remember, among others, Deputy Guy de Faye doing so, promising his website would become an interactive forum, always updated. Alas, it never materialised! But Peter Bewer's call for "sporting and leisure facilities" would come to fruition - remember in 1993, there was no Quennevais swimming pool and sports centre, although there was a football pitch.

Deputy Graham Huelin, on the other hand, has a more conservative agenda, but one that still had a place for reform, and one that is personally to my liking - "to preserve all that is good in Jersey and improve all that is not." I am biased, of course, because I voted for him, mainly because he was approachable, listened about problems, and worked quietly away to resolve them, preferring to negotiate around obstacles that being confrontational, but doing so extremely well. He was a consensus builder, bringing people together to work through problems, and we could do with more of those in today's States. And with Deputy Huelin, this was not just an empty form of words - in contrast to the flannel which we find in some politicians today.

Incidentally, an anecdotal piece of information is that when he first joined the Civil Service, he took over my mother's post as she was just leaving to raise a family, and would in due course have a son! She taught him before she left - transition arrangements were common in the Civil Service back then.

Deputy Tom Jordan, on the other hand, presents much more a picture of entrenchment against the forces of modernity, as he will fight "preserve the Jersey way of life'. Although he says he can see the need for improvements, a lot of what he mentions is fighting developments, and stopping what he sees as "drastic change". The main thrust of his campaign is largely keeping the "status quo". And while stopping developments certainly earns merit with the electorate, in the long term, it is something negative, instead of bringing something new in as Deputy Mike Vibert did later with fighting against a golf course and replacing that plan with a country park that everyone could enjoy.

Gary Matthews has a very modern agenda - free prescriptions, better childcare, more open government - and represents, more that Peter Bewers ever could, " a new and refreshed style", although notably he doesn't use that phrase. Instead he plays on the need for the vitality of younger States members, and more representation of the ordinary people including the working class.

Graham Thorne's call for a "freedom of information law" shows how long this issue has been around - nearly 18 years. In his case it sprung, I think, from frustration that even as a Deputy he could not get information that he wanted to request from other States Departments. Of course, back in 1993, there was not even a voluntary code of sharing, no agenda's published, and secrecy was endemic.

Most of the issues he brings up are still around today - outside labour coming into the Island, especially during times of unemployment (which was also the case in 1993, where there was a "winter work scheme"), centralised welfare, and remarkably for 1993, the idea of whether the Bailiff should be an elected position.

In the election, Deputy Graham Huelin was re-elected, but Deputy Tom Jordan lost his seat to Gary Matthews. Clearly, after three years, the electorate wanted change from Mr Jordan, and obviously as Graham Thorne had lost his seat six years ago, he would have to be rather more impressive to win back support.

Some of the matters raised have come to pass, some are issues still with us today. Traffic and over-development crop up quite a lot, and Deputy Jordan's linking the two is still something which I feel doesn't get the importance that it should. An example would be Constable Peter Hanning's recent backing of a development in St Saviour which completely ignored the issue of the dense traffic and schools close by.

One matter that is slightly more common is Peter Bower's suggestion of giving "ordinary people a chance to air their views on important issues in the parish by calling public meetings". These tend to be issue specific - like the black headstone - but they do happen, and largely at the instigation of Parish Deputies rather than the Constable, who may feel that Parish Assemblies are sufficient. It is notable that these occasional meetings usually take place at Communicare, which is much more suited for access that the Parish Hall at St Aubin.

St Brelade Number 2

Peter Bewers
Occupation: Retired director
Age: 52

PETER Bewers wants to offer a new and refreshed style of political representation if he is elected tomorrow. He is hoping to provide a stronger voice in the States, and says that he would give ordinary people a chance to air their views on important issues in the parish by calling public meetings.

'I want to address all the traffic problems in the parish, including the Bel Royal/St Aubin problem,' he says. In addition, he will lobby for the extension of pavements from La Moye School to Mont es Croix.

A married man with three children, he was educated at Hautlieu School and has lived in Jersey for 45 years. He took early retirement in June.

Mr Bewers's policies include careful planning for the future of the Island's prosperity in financial affairs. He says he will also strive for a programme of street lighting for all the parish housing developments. Mr Bewers supports sensible, well-planned housing developments, providing the traffic problems can he overcome.

'I support efforts for lower air fares into the Island,' he says.

He adds that he also supports any improvement in the provision of sporting and leisure facilities for the parish.

Graham Huelin
Occupation: Retired civil servant
Age: 68

ST BRELADE Deputy Graham Huelin's ambition is to preserve all that is good in Jersey and improve all that is not.

A States Member since 1987, the former assistant Greffier and Bailiff's secretary believes that the Island's most important issues are unemployment and immigration.

He is also concerned about the Island's recovery from recession and giving support for the finance, tourism and agricultural industries.

'I believe in the need for stable and responsible government to promote confidence from the local electorate and - just as important - respect from the outside world,' he says.

'As a Deputy I believe that the most important thing is to listen to parishioners, care for their needs and help whenever possible.'

If re-elected for a third term in St Brelade, Deputy Huelin promises hard work, approachability, reliability, integrity and the acceptance of accountability for decisions taken on behalf of electors.

Currently president of the House Committee and a member of IDC and the Public Health and Industrial Relations Committees, as well as the Prison Board, the Deputy is also a member of the Bel Royal/Beaumont Study Group and is chairman of the St Brelade's Bay Improvement Group.

Tom Jordan
Occupation: Hotelier
Age: 44

DEPUTY Tom Jordan is running for re-election with the pledge to `preserve the Jersey way of life'.

Educated at De La Salle College, the Industrial Relations Committee president says that as a parish representative he intends to continue the good working relationship he has with other St Brelade representatives.

`Throughout my term as Deputy, I have consistently expressed concern on development plans, especially with regard to Lesquende, he says. `I have obtained an undertaking from Public Services that they will implement a traffic survey before further developments take place in the parish. I shall also request that preference be given to first-time buyers with St Brelade connections.'

Deputy Jordan is also the vice-president of the Sport, Leisure and Recreation and Overseas Aid Committees. He is a member of the Defence and Harbours and Airport Committees and is the chairman of the Firearms Council and pilotage sub-committee.

'I am a supporter of the honorary system and I see Jersey as a very special place to live. Although I feel that there are many areas for improvement. I would not like to see such drastic change that we lose the uniqueness of our Island life.' he says.

Gary Matthews
Occupation: Travel manager
Age: 35

GARY Matthews wants to see younger people in the States and says there is an imbalance in favour of wealthy and business candidates in the House.

He wants to see more working class representatives speaking on behalf of ordinary people, families, pensioners and the needy.

A family man with three children, Mr Matthews is a Warwick University politics graduate and was educated at Hautlieu School.

'I believe that the people of Jersey are generally disillusioned with the States,' he says. 'We need young, approachable Deputies of integrity who have the long-term vision needed to take the Island into the 21st century.'

Active in green politics for some years, he is also a member of the Jersey Rights Association.

Mr Matthews thinks that free prescriptions and health care for the elderly and young should be considered, and he wants to see an improved bus service and better childcare facilities.

'I support the calls for political reform, including more open government, freedom of information and an emphasis on long-term progressive policy formulation.' he said. 'I am also vary concerned about high unemployment figures locally and want urgent action for real jobs for locals as well as reforms in the welfare system.'

Graham Thorne
Occupation: Plumbing engineer
Age: 57

FORMER St Brelade Deputy Graham Thorne, who ran an unsuccessful senatorial campaign, would like to see more open government.

He thinks that Jersey residents should have more knowledge of States business and supports the idea of a Freedom of Information Act for Jersey.

Married with two children and two grandchildren, Mr Thorne runs a plumbing and heating business and has lived in St Brelade for 35 years. A Deputy from 1981 to 1987, he was on the Resources Recovery Board, now part of Public Services, as well as two other sub-committees. He did the initial 'spadework' in creating a football pitch at St Brelade. and also worked on providing pavements at Pont Marquet and main drains at Quennevais Gardens and St Sampson's Avenue.

Mr Thorne is concerned about labour being brought into the Island and the fact that Jersey labour is not employed in all jobs.

Large welfare payments placing a heavy burden on taxpayers also concerns Mr Thorne, who would like to see a central welfare fund.

He supports the calls for an elected Bailiff, but believes that the matter should be thoroughly investigated. He also thinks that politicians and civil servants need to he more accountable.

Deputies Elections - St Brelade No 1 1993

In this posting, I'm looking particularly at St Brelade No 1, where there were two candidates for one positions. Except for one election recently, this end of the Parish tends to attract only a few candidates, and is often just a "two horse race".

I'm not wholly convinced the split of the Parish into two districts is viable, at least not in its present state, as most of the new housing estates seem to have been in the St Brelade No 2 area, and it could well be the case that St Brelade No 1 is over-represented, and the district boundaries need to be redrawn, or merged with St Brelade No 2. Where there are electoral districts within a Parish, and they've stayed the same over the years, there is certainly a need to look at this within any Committee looking at Electoral Reform.

The sitting Deputy Margaret Beadle was to be unseated by Alastair Layzell, who had become, of course, a very familiar figure on the screens of Channel Report for many years.

Mrs Beadle displays the customary list of States committees that she has served on, without, as in St Clement, stating what she did on any of them. I once looked up minutes of various meetings from a much later Deputy in St Brelade No 2 (when such minutes were available online for many committees) and it turned out he had been responsible on one committee for obtaining sandwiches and refreshments for the committee while they deliberated, and that was it!

It is interesting that she wanted a new swimming pool in the West, and now, of course, despite her losing the election, this has come about, and there is a pool and sport's centre at Les Quennevais.

However, Mr Layzell's proposal for residents having designated areas - which I suppose would have been similar to Simon Crowcroft's resident's parking scheme in St Helier - never came to fruition. He also failed in his attempt to stop the approval of the plans for the Portelet Hotel, but the collapse of the tourism market, and recessionary pressures meant that the Seymour Group dropped the plans themselves, despite getting them passed. One of histories little ironies!

Land reclamation was clearly a proposal even back in 1993, and has come back ever since, rather like a Yo-Yo, and rejected for pretty much the same reasons - the West of Albert Waterfront development gave a clear view of all the mistakes that had happened once the developers had come in. Of course, it has been argued that St Aubin can learn from those mistakes, but as the States themselves seem incapable of doing so, and approve ever more fantastical schemes - such as the sunken road - it is hardly likely to inspire any great confidence. The latest to try at St Aubin was former Deputy Guy de Faye, who seemed to think it could be valuable land-fill - and then reclaimed and built on. During the land-fill period, of course, it would have been extremely ugly, and there would be no certainty that would not be the case for a number of years. Moreover, the experience of the new Marina at the Harbour shows the failure of plans to model tidal currents well, which is yet another cause of concern in an area prone to flooding (and which would have underground parking with automatic sealed doors, on the de Faye fantasy).

Mr Layzell also tapped into the heritage and environmental concerns, and unlike Mrs Beadle, he had not just memberships of groups, worthy though they might be, but also experience as a campaigner to preserve St Aubin against despoiling by development; and he had also penned as co-author, a document outlining an environmental and architectural strategy for Jersey. Given such a formidable and eloquent opponent, it was perhaps not surprising that she lost the election.

Mr Layzell would, however, lose in a later election to newcomer Sarah Ferguson, perhaps largely because - as he himself observed - he had taken his eye rather too much off Parish matters as President of the Home Affairs committee.

St Brelade No 1

Margaret Beadle
Occupation: Deputy/housewife
Age: 53

DEPUTY Margaret Beadle has been a States Member for 12 years, and has been president of the Cottage Homes Committee since 1986. She sits on Public Health, Broadcasting, Gambling Control and the Occupation and Liberation Committees.

Deputy Beadle believes that Jersey needs to maintain its unique constitution. She supports the honorary police, who she believes play a vital role in parish life. 'There should he support for the training of residentially qualified people to enable them to take on responsible positions in the Island.' she says. She also advocates the building of a new swimming pool for the west of the Island.

A supporter of the Battle of Flowers for many years. Deputy Beadle is a former president and the current vice-president of the Battle of Flowers Association.

She is also the president of the St Brelade senior citizens group. St Brelade's Battle of Flowers Committee. and the St Martin division of St John Ambulance.

She is the patron of St Brelade's social club and a supporter of the parish agricultural society. 'I do not believe in change for the sake of change. Electors have placed their trust in me and I ask them to support me again.'  she says.

Alastair Layzell
Occupation: TV broadcaster
Age: 35

ALASTAIR Layzell is challenging sitting Deputy Margaret Beadle in the district in which he lives and works.

The chairman of Save Jerseys Heritage, Mr Layzell has campaigned to preserve St Paul's School, Colomberie House, St James's Church and dilapidated 18th and 19th century cottages in Hue Street.

A former CTV journalist and political commentator, father-of-two Mr Layzell is a co-author of the long-term strategy for Jersey called 'Notre Ile' which he wrote with Senator Nigel Queree and Senator-elect Stuart Syvret.

He is against the proposed reclamation of land at St Aubin - 'the jewel in St Brelade's crown' - to build a car park. 'We have seen what land
reclamation looks like at West Park and we must not make the same mistake here. If elected, however, I shall be supporting the idea of designated parking spaces for the residents of St Aubin,' he said.

Mr Layzell, while not against proposals to upgrade the Portelet Hotel, believes that the plans were 'completely out of scale with the area'.

As one of the people who argued for a 30 mph speed limit on Route du Noirmont, Mr Layzell is to campaign for a footpath along the 'dangerous' road.

Deputies Elections - St Clement 1993

VOTERS in seven of the Island's 12 parishes go to the polls tomorrow to elect 23 Deputies to sit in the States for the next three years. A total of 51 candidates are fighting for the vacant seats. and the first results are expected to he announced within an hour of the polls closing.

In St Helier there are contests in all three districts, with five candidates chasing three seats in No I, seven after a similar number in No 2, and nine contesting the four vacant seats in No 3. The polling stations are at the Town Hall (No 1 district), St Mark's Church Hall, David Place (No 2 District) and either Rouge Bouillon School or First Tower. depending on people's addresses, for No 3 district.

There is a similar picture in St Saviour, with all three districts being contested. Six candidates have been proposed for the two vacancies in No 1, three for the one vacancy in No 2, and three for the one vacancy in No 3. The respective polling stations are at Georgetown (Royal Crescent Methodist Church Hall), the Parish Hall and Eden Methodist Church Hall.

Voting in a Deputies election is quite rare in St Clement, but tomorrow the electors there can exercise their right, for there are three candidates for the two vacant seats. Voting is at the Parish Hall. In Grouville there are four candidates for the one vacancy, with voting at the Parish Hall: and at St Martin, where the voting is at the Public Hall, there are two candidates for the one vacancy.

In this posting, I'm looking particularly at St Clement's where there were three candidates for two positions. Later I'll look at other Parishes. In St Clements, needless to say, the two older (and sitting) candidates were the ones who retained their seats.

It's interesting to see that rates reform and the centralisation of the system to income support was on the agenda even back then, for all three candidates. I suspect though that this was not because Parish welfare could be extremely difficult to obtain, depending upon the fickleness of parish board considering cases rather than any particular rules. It's clear that at least part of the reason is the high cost to the Parish, a kind of postcode lottery in which more populous Parishes had more cases of welfare. Len Norman for instance wants to shift the welfare burden off the Parish and so that it is more centrally distributed across all the other parishes. But all the candidates agree that welfare should be centralised.

This makes it even more amazing that it is only recently, under a Deputy of St Clements, Ian Gorst, that such a change has actually taken place. Why, one may ask did it take so long? Who didn't want what seems to have been an obvious move? I think a lot of that has to do with Parish control over their own rates, something Malcolm McEwen mentions, but is probably at the forefront of other States members. The current system of having an Island rate, but retaining a Parish rate, means the Parishes have not surrendered control of their finances, and the working out of proportions involved undoubtedly involved a lot of wrangling.

The one candidate who did not get elected, Malcolm McEwen, seems to be addressing present day concerns such as immigration, freedom of information, and open government. Some headway has been made on these matters but it has been painfully slow and it is clear that these did not feature very highly on the list of priorities of the two candidates who were elected.

Did the drugs menace turn out to be a significant threat as Len Norman suggested? I don't think so, and I think this is a little bit of an "idée fixe" of his.

The style of presentation of the candidates is interesting, with sitting States members listing a number of States posts without actually saying that much, if at all, about what they did as member of this that or the other committee. The memberships are displayed rather like display of a peacock, and don't actually tell us if they were effective members or not, apart from the main committees which they were President or Vice-President. Indeed, there is a singular lack of policy in connection with these memberships. They might as well be claiming membership of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes, for all the good it does. I suspect they hope to bask in reflected glory - if the Committees on which they were members did some good, some of the credit should rub off on them.

It is interesting that Harry Baudains is calling for yet another committee! The way in which committees and subcommittees sprouted like the heads of the hydra do give some indication of why the whole structure became so unwieldy that it would need substantial reform.

It may also be significant that for Malcolm McEwen's failure that he did not live in the Parish, although he grew up in the Parish. It was and still is quite common for Town Deputies, in particular, to come from rural districts, but rather rarer for a candidate to come (and be elected) from outside the country Parishes.

St Clement

Harry Baudains
Occupation: Retired farmer
Age: 60

DEPUTY Harry Baudains has been a St Clement representative for the last seven years and has served on IDC [the old planning department] during all of that time, the last six years as vice-president.

He has been a member of the Education Committee for four years. He also served on the Tree Council for six years and has an interest in environmental mutters,

The Deputy, who was born in the parish and has lived there ever since, says he has worked for some time in trying to prove how unfair the present system of raising welfare is. He is glad that Policy and Resources now agree that there is an injustice.

The IDC vice-president, who is married with two grown-up children, says that although the committee's decisions do not always receive universal acclaim, he believes that the latest housing projects and traditional buildings are generally admired.

Deputy Baudains, a former Treasurer of the Jersey Farmers Union, also wants to see more help for light industry.

'I argued during the Strategic Policy debate in favour of a committee for light industry, as I feel that this is essential if we are to regain full employment. I would like the opportunity to pursue this matter." he said.

Malcolm McEwen
Occupation: Fitter / Fabricator
Age: 27

MALCOLM McEwen has stood for public office once before when he was unsuccessful in a by-election in St Saviour No 1 last year.

Mr McEwen, a member of the executive committee of Concern grew up and was educated in St Clement, although he now lives in St Saviour.

Earlier this year he decided to move from his fathers engineering business to become a self-employed tradesman so that he could stand for election, He says he stands for wider and fairer representation of the electorate. "The majority of people are not represented, especially the younger generations," he says. He believes that be welfare system should be centrally funded and says that the parish must not lose its right to set its own rates.

Mr McEwen is a supporter of freedom of information and open government. and he believes that the public should have access to States committee meetings.

He wants to see the powers of the honorary police enhanced so that they can deal with petty crime and public order offences.

He also feels that housing policy has not improved for the better and says that the Island needs properly to address the immigration question if it is to go forward.

Len Norman
Occupation: Company director
Age: 46

DEPUTY Len Norman has been a Deputy for St Clement since May 1983, when he was successful in a by-election following the death of Deputy Dick O'Connor.

He is currently president of Housing and has overseen one of the most prolific States sector building programmes ever seen.

The Deputy is also the vice-President of Harbours and Airport and Postal. He is a director of the Jersey New Waterworks Company and a member of the Waterfront Enterprise Board.

Deputy Norman says that the most important issue facing the electorate of St Clement is the ever-increasing rates burden caused almost exclusively by the level of welfare paid by the parish.

"At last there is an Island wide recognition that while those in need of help should continue to receive that help, the burden on our parish is unfair.' he said. He has also been pleased to announce recently that due to the success of the Housing Committee's policies there should he no need to rezone open land for housing.

The Deputy believes that the biggest threat to the next generation is drugs. He says that he will urge that the police and Customs be resourced not only to contain the menace, but to defeat it.