Le Fondré tops Express Chief Minister poll

Thursday 24 May 2018

Nominations have to be in today for the island's next Chief Minister, and an Express poll suggests it might be a two-horse race between the current incumbent, Senator Ian Gorst, and Senator-elect John Le Fondré.

In fact, John Le Fondré topped the poll of 1,389 people, gaining just over 30% of the vote, ahead of Senator Gorst in second place, with 23%.

The recent Senatorial poll-topper, who has ruled herself out of the race, Senator-elect Tracey Vallois, came next, once again polling more strongly than Senator-elect Kristina Moore in fourth. 

Senator Lyndon Farnham, came fifth out of sixth in the Express poll, with less than 10% of the vote. 

Express Editor, James Filleul, commented: "Polls such as this one are only ever an indication of public feeling, and that's exactly how we present them. The sample is 'self-selecting', and it is of course possible for the unscrupulous to ignore the spirit of what we are trying to do and find ways of voting more than once. Notwithstanding that point, the sample size is very strong at 1,389, being larger than the number of people who voted in some of the recent Deputies elections.

"But taking all that into account, the top two - Le Fondré and Gorst - were clearly ahead in this poll."

The three candidates will need to submit their nominations, signed by six elected members, before 17:00 today, which is five working days before their fellow politicians will choose who they want. That takes place on the 4th June, but the deadline is a day early, as next Monday is a Bank Holiday.

Those nomination papers need to include a statement setting out the candidate's vision for their strategic policy, and explaining how they would go about being Chief Minister. Ian Gorst's 'application' from 2014 can be found here. 

Once States Members elect the Chief Minister on the 4 June, they meet again later the same week, on the 7 and 8 June, to debate his/her proposals for the other ministerial posts.