How would you control 49 politicians?

Tuesday 26 September 2017

Jersey's Chief Minister wants to open the way to a member of the public becoming the first elected 'speaker' of the States Assembly

It would mean ousting the Bailiff from the historic role first, a move which has already proved to be deeply divisive.

The idea comes in a proposition lodged by in the name of the Chief Minister, Senator Ian Gorst, personally, and not in the name of the full Council of Ministers who don't all support calls to split the Bailiff's dual role as head of the States and the Courts - notably, former Bailiff, and current External Relations Minister, Senator Sir Philip Bailhache, is firmly against the move. 

Senator Gorst is seeking to end that centuries-old tradition in a bid to remove the negative stigma of 'The Jersey Way'; he's now suggesting that the new Speaker could be a member of the public or a States Member.

Under his proposals, selecting a 'Speaker' would be top of the agenda when a new States Assembly is elected, and would follow a similar format to the election of the Chief Minister. They would be forced to remain strictly impartial and would have to give up any affiliation to political parties or movements with which they may be involved. They would be given an office to themselves, and would be assisted by a new role within the States Greffe which would earn between £70,000 and £80,000. The proposed remuneration package for the Speaker has not yet been disclosed. 

Pictured: The Bailiff (second left) would be allowed to retain a ceremonial role and continue to attend charity events like Swimarathon.

The Bailiff, meanwhile, would remain as the 'civic head' of Jersey, continuing to speak at public engagements including charity events and ambassadorial meetings, but would no longer exercise an active role within the States Assembly itself.

Debate over separating the Bailiff’s powers has raged on over many years, but was reignited this summer following the publication of the £23million Care Inquiry report. In clear terms, it actively recommended scrapping the Bailiff’s political role, and backed up recommendations made in two independent reviews – Clothier and Carswell – regarding the separation of the Courts and government.

While States members have broadly welcomed the findings of the Care Inquiry, Senator Gorst's attempts to adopt the recommendation to scrap the Bailiff's dual role don't appear to have won favour with his fellow Ministers.

It is already known that his strong adherence to the Care Inquiry, which took aim at the Bailiff's brother Senator Sir Philip Bailhache, has fractured his relationship with the influential ally. Sir Philip himself tabled an opposing motion some weeks ago suggesting an island-wide referendum into the Bailiff's future.

Pictured: Senator Sir Philip Bailhache, who is currently recovering from illness, refused to support the Chief Minister with a proposition that would push his brother out of a role within the States of Jersey.

Instead, the Chief Minister has found support in Deputy Montfort Tadier of Reform Jersey - a party usually at loggerheads with Senator Gorst - who is on record as supporting the move, and has even agreed to withdraw his own proposition to scrap the Bailiff's dual role.

Deputy Tadier commented: “Three heavyweight reports that the States Assembly themselves commissioned have reported back that Jersey should adopt a separation of powers between legislature and judiciary. Both I and Reform Jersey remain committed to delivering on these important recommendations. We have been working collaboratively across the normal political divide in the best interests of the Island. We have therefore agreed to withdraw our existing proposition and we intend to support this proposition made by the Chief Minister, who also shares our objectives in this regard. Some States Members have indicated they wanted more detail on which to base a decision to elect their own Speaker, and this has been provided. I hope there will now be no reason for members to reject this simple but essential change.” 

Commenting on his proposition, the Chief Minister said: "It is the norm in the democratic world for there to be a complete separation between the legislature and judiciary, and for a Parliament to elect its own Speaker. Jersey does not currently meet modern democratic principles on either of these matters. It is crucial that we address any suggestion, whether this be in practice or by perception, that Jersey does not adhere to internationally accepted standards of governance.”

The idea will be debated on the 14 November.