Thirteen islanders have put themselves forward for one of four senatorial seats in the States of Jersey. The election race is now on, as senatorial candidates will be joined by constable and deputy nominations. In a crowded Town Hall on Tuesday night, 13 people were nominated by fellow islanders to run for senator. Nine had announced their intentions, but four were new additions to the group of candidates wanting an island-wide mandate.
The list includes three women: Advocate Rose Colley, Sylvia Lagadu and Linda Corby. Three sitting States members have declared: Senators Freddie Cohen and Francis Le Gresley and Deputy Ian Gorst. Jersey's former Bailiff Sir Philip Bailhache and the former Health and Social Services Minister Stuart Syvret will both put their names on the ballot. Other candidates include Lyndon Farnham, Darius Pearce, Christopher Whitworth, David Richardson and Mark Forskitt.
If any of those candidates put themselves forward to run as a constable or deputy, their senatorial nomination will be cancelled out.
There are 61,987 people registered to vote in the election on 19 October 2011. It will be the first time in Jersey's history that constables, deputies and senators have been elected on the same day.
[13 Candidates stand for Senator in election, BBC News, 7 September 2011]
As a result, the court will next week hear jewellery shop owner Darius Pearce’s claims that the Deputy’s proposer at last week’s nomination meeting breached the election law. The court ordered media organisations to hand over recordings of the meeting. Mr Pearce, who is one of 13 candidates in the Senatorial election, claimed that during the nomination meeting on Wednesday last week the Deputy declared he had a conviction, but did not say what it was.
[Candidate in move to stop Deputy standing in election, 17 September 2011]
[Judgement of the Royal Court, 20 September 2011 Representation of Darius Pearce [2011]JRC180A]
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This week the number of Senatorial candidates dropped from 13 to 12. Okay, so not exactly, but would-be politician Darius Pearce ruled himself out as a credible candidate in my view by vowing to boycott the majority of the forthcoming hustings meetings.
I mean, come on, branding an opportunity to answer the questions of the public as ‘a waste of time’ isn’t the best move.
Sure, as he points out, candidates are only given a few minutes for a speech and then a minute-and-a-half to answer questions – but how else can it be done?
And, if you can’t present yourself succinctly and clearly in that amount of time, then there’s no hope when it comes to debates in the Assembly.
Mr Pearce said he would prefer to see no speeches and just questions and has said he will spend the time when he should be at hustings knocking on doors so he can meet voters and answer questions in full. Apart from – wait for it – the three hustings where the BBC will be filming. (Enter your own outraged comments about publicity seeking here.)
I just cannot fathom why a candidate for election would even consider such a move. It is an insult to the system, to tradition, to voters and to the other candidates. Why not just grin and bear the 13 meetings (like everyone else has to) and present yourself as someone there for the public, no matter what ,and willing to do what it takes to make a difference in your Island.
I suppose the least that can be said for Mr Pearce is that he is honest and won’t put up a front just to get elected. And it will be one less speech for us to listen to.
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[JEP editorial on Darius Pearce, 20 September 2011]
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On a final note, I’d like to publically commend Senatorial candidate Darius Pearce for going against his promise to boycott the hustings and turning up in Grouville.
After phone calls from parishioners in St Peter, where he didn’t attend on Wednesday, the jewellery shop owner said he had ‘been wrong’ not to go. And he even gave a speech, an off-the-cuff one that could only have been of his own making.
[JEP editorial on Darius Pearce, 27 September 2011]
After a hearing lasting almost three hours, the court rejected an application from Senatorial candidate Darius Pearce asking that Deputy Southern’s nomination be declared invalid. He had claimed that the Deputy’s proposer had breached the election law by failing to read out the candidate’s criminal convictions on nomination night. However, the case did expose two gaps in election procedures, which Deputy Bailiff William Bailhache said needed sorting out.
[Court win for Southern – but case highlights failings, 21 September 2011]
[Election Results, JEP, 20 October 2011] [Election results - JEP 20 October 2011]
