Interested in a £46,000 a year job? Read on…

Tuesday 02 August 2016

If you’re interested in a job that’s got a 20-month contract, with the possibility to extended for another four years, and that pays £42,600 a year, with up to another £4,000 a year in expenses, you've got about a week to put in your application - here’s what you need to know…

Following Senator Zoe Cameron’s decision to quit politics last month Jersey’s States are looking for a new member. So, here’s the credentials you need, and what you’ll need to do to become a Senator – a politician elected on an Island-wide basis.

First you’ve got to be over 18 years old and be a British citizen. You also need to have been living in the Island continuously for the past two years, or have lived here on-and-off for a period of five years, the last six months of which have been continuous. You’re excluded from standing if you’ve served a prison sentence of more than three months in the past seven years.

Because this by-election is for a Senator – a politician with an Island-wide mandate – there are no restrictions on which parish or district you have to live in. Nor are there residency restrictions on the people who can sign your nomination form, they simply have to be on the electoral role.

Next, the nomination… You need to download a form from here, and get 10 registered voters to sign it. Then you and your proposer and seconder need to get yourselves to the Town Hall for 19:30 on Tuesday 9th August.

At the meeting your proposer tells the audience why he or she is nominating you. The form is checked, and you have to fill out another form covering any criminal convictions.

Provided there are more candidates than vacancies, an election’s ordered.

Now, it’s time to hit the campaign trail. Over the following month you’ll usually be expected to attend a series of hustings – meetings at various venues around the Island – usually each of the parish halls – where voters will have the chance to quiz you.

Then it’s on to ‘door knocking’ – going from house to house to explain to voters why they should choose you.

You might also want to publish a manifesto – usually a printed sheet of paper on which you write about yourself and your policies. You can pop these through people’s doors if they happen to be out when you visit.

Some candidates also take out advertisements in the media and put up posters and banners. The law limits the amount of money you can spend on your campaign – you’re usually told what the figure is at the nomination meeting.

Then on Wednesday 7^th September there’s one more round of last minute campaigning – convincing people to vote for you, and making sure they get to the polls – they’re open from 08:00 to 20:00.

The votes are counted separately in each of the parishes and the totals added up. The Town Hall is usually the last venue to declare. Since this is a by-election and turnout is usually relatively low, you could know if you’ve been successful in time for last orders.