THE THEMES

Guernsey has elected a new Assembly in June. It was the second ‘outing’ for the Island Wide Voting mechanism, first undertaken in 2020 and only the third opportunity to determine whether the new Committee system (introduced in 2016). remains suitable. It is my opinion, that neither remain fit for purpose, and must be researched and (hopefully) replaced in time for the 2029 election.

Of course people will have different views on whether further changes are necessary – from outside and inside the Assembly and from previous Deputies who may have experienced some of the other variations to our Machinery of Government over many years. That notwithstanding, any candidates seeking to stand in an election, need a good grasp of the challenges our Island faces and if a candidate is entirely new with no previous experience as a Deputy, then anything that will assist them to fully understand the priorities that must be addressed should they be successful will (I hope) be welcomed.

But possibly even more importantly, electors need to know what our Island Government priorities are too so that they can question those standing about what their views (and possible solutions) may be. I mention this because it is more likely that electors will have particular issues personal to them perhaps, regardless of whether they may or may not have implications for the Island as a whole. The downside of voting for particular causes or purely personal issues is that we elect an Assembly whose members’ experience is not sufficiently broad based – to be able to participate effectively in key decisions which impact many Islanders outside of those individual causes. Social media has made it very easy to give a voice to activists of all stripes or alternatively, to seek to discount candidates who may not necessarily support particular causes, but who nevertheless have sufficient life or professional experience to play an active and valuable role in the Assembly and across the Government Committee system more generally.

In light of the foregoing and with actual experience across 3 States Committees in the 2020-2025 term, including, being on the Senior Committee (P&R), I feel able to propose 10 key areas that the new Assembly must prioritise.

Conveniently, using their first letters – they can be categorised as ‘THESE THEMES’ (see below). That does not mean that they themselves have any hierarchy of priority like this – but it may serve to keep 10 items relatively front of mind. (The final ‘S’ by the way, would actually make 11, but it is in fact representative of a significant consideration that features in each of the priorities – SUBSCALE). That is actually an important factor to understand – because being a very small jurisdiction (regardless of our participation in Global Finance), means we lack economies of scale and increasingly, proportionality must be recognised as a limiting factor in our ability to deliver many services cost-effectively. The Theme pages below introduce the relevant priority at a high level, but then individual blog ‘posts’ get into much more detail in bite-sized chunks (so that the Elephant which is the ‘States’ can be consumed and digested more easily). There are also some video posts to help to bring the issues to life. Your own comments are welcomed and can be entered as provided for in each individual post.

Finally, I make no excuse for what some visitors may feel are controversial proposals, comments or suggestions. I provide my rationale for these proposals in each case because I feel strongly that these issues cannot be ignored or which need to be considered holistically – as opposed to individually, which unfortunately (in my opinion) the current Machinery of Government tends to promote. Should you wish to contact me individually to discuss any of the content here – do please get in touch.

Bob Murray, January 2025