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As the dust settles from a ground-breaking UK General Election, Express reveals the results of a not-so-scientific investigation to find out which way our States Assembly leans...
It was a long night for Rishi Sunak, as UK voters made their frustrations with the now-former Prime Minister's reign clear by delivering a landslide victory for the Labour Party.
Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham has since congratulated the party on it's "resounding" victory and said he looks forward to "building a close and productive working relationship" with the new government.
But how would our leaders have voted?
Express asked all 49 States Members on Wednesday if they would be willing to share – in confidence – which way they would have voted.
Perhaps unsurprisingly (given our previous 'investigation'), not all got to the Express 'polling booth' on time – but of the 29 that did, here's what they had to say...
Many were unsure, and provided a mix of parties they would be happy to give their backing – of the group that responded, 13 leaned towards the left, while the Conservatives curried favour with at least eight Deputies.
On the left-wing of the spectrum, three politicians were decisive Labour voters, while three would have voted Green, and three would have voted for the Liberal Democrats.
One person was stuck between the Lib Dems, Labour or Green, another just between the Lib Dems or Green, while two more were stuck between Labour or Green.
One very senior politician indeed, who described himself as a "caring Conservative", suggested he might otherwise have voted for satirical political candidate Lord Buckethead.
The Women's Equality Party also got an honourable mention from one politician.
While Reform UK grabbed four seats in the UK election, they didn't get any votes from Jersey's politicians – though Reform Jersey leader Sam Mézec, whose party is politically opposite, admitted getting instinctively "excited" whenever the party was mentioned during last night's results announcements.
Every time I hear “Reform set to gain seats” I instinctively get excited before having to remind myself NOT TONIGHT.
— Deputy Sam Mézec (@SamMezecJsy) July 4, 2024
Three weren't comfortable with revealing their political preference, another said he simply wasn't sure, while several suggested it simply wasn't a decision for Jersey to weigh-in on.
Another went as far as to stress the matter was "for the people of the UK" and that they "would not vote".
Pictured: The results of the not-so-scientific investigation into how Jersey's politicians would vote in the general election.
One simply stated they would "work with whichever party the UK electorate chooses to govern them".
Another States Member said: "I did not vote in the UK election. I note both Conservatives and Labour Party leaders recognised the economic challenges that the U.K. faces and that Jersey has similar issues. Constituency considerations would have been relevant to voting choice."
Another said: "I have been following the UK election fairly closely but don’t know how I would vote, partly because I don’t think I should have a say in the UK elections as I am not resident there."
While Jersey doesn't have full party politics, the island's own election back in 2022 brought in 10 Reform Jersey Deputies, two Jersey Liberal Conservatives, one Progress Party, and one Jersey Alliance candidate.
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Pictured top: One States Member name-dropped Lord Buckethead (photo courtesy of FreeConcordRaw/Wiki).
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