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A fresh political plot to remove the Bailiff of Jersey from the States Assembly is in the works, Express has learned – but an anonymous, money-backed campaign group with the sole mission of "saving" the traditional role is making a strong push to make sure it gets no further.
A Minister this week confirmed to Express that a chain of emails from a rebel backbench Deputy was sent “in error” to all constables revealing a potential proposition in the works.
The coalition of backbenchers supposedly behind the proposition includes, among others, a former Chief Minister and the current Housing Minister, who has this week argued on social media that "presiding over the States is a job an elected States Member could do for a quarter of the salary".
This comes several weeks after current Bailiff Sir Timothy Le Cocq (67) announced his retirement from the role. The 90th Bailiff will leave office on 17 October 2025 exactly six years after his appointment, with the process to choose his successor set to take place soon.
Within a month, the page entitled 'Save the Bailiff of Jersey' had published its first social media post which invited islanders to "join us in this important People's Campaign".
Many islanders saw sponsored posts from the account pop up in their feed. The account has also secured X's blue tick – a premium service from the platform formerly known as Twitter, which promises its subscribers that its posts will rank higher in other users' feeds, enhancing their reach and engagement.
We are pleased to announce the launch of Save Our Bailiff.
— Save the Bailiff of Jersey (@SaveOurBailiff) October 15, 2024
This initiative aims to Save the Bailiff of Jersey and to stop the removal of the Bailiff of Jersey from the States Assembly. We invite you to join us in this important peoples campaign.#SaveOurBailiff #JerseyCI ???????????????????????? pic.twitter.com/vkNcRe9Zdq
Pictured: The account began being promoted on Twitter/X in last week.
Their launch post said: "We will provide a set arguments supporting the Bailiff's role in the States Assembly. We, along with many fellow islanders, believe this position is vital to our history, heritage, and culture."
While the post attracted dozens of comments on social media, it nonetheless begged several questions: who is behind the page? Who is bankrolling it? And, more importantly, does the Bailiff actually need saving?
Express went on its own mission to find out...
Removing the Bailiff from the States Assembly is by no means an original idea, and a number of politicians over the past 25 years have attempted to split the role.
Critics claim that one individual should not serve as head of both the legislative body and the judiciary in the dual role of Chief Justice and Presiding Officer of the States, arguing this could lead to conflicts of interest.
As a Crown officer, the Bailiff is also the island's 'civic head' – its Chief Citizen, as it were.
The 2000 Clothier Report into the machinery of government, the 2009 Carswell report into the roles of Crown officers, and the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry in 2017 have all made the case that the role should be split.
Pictured: the Bailiff presides over the States Assembly.
In 2013, St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft's proposal to replace the Bailiff with an elected 'speaker' was soundly defeated. He ignited this conversation in the weeks after Sir Michael Birt announced his retirement from the role, saying that it was an "ideal opportunity" for Members to debate the change.
Former Chief Minister Senator John Le Fondré brought a compromise proposition in 2019 which would have enabled States Members to select a Speaker to preside over the Assembly, but only if the Bailiff or Deputy Bailiff was unavailable – that was defeated by 31 votes to 16.
The same year, then Senator Sam Mézec withdrew his proposals to allow Members to elect their own Speaker, after his colleagues narrowly agreed that any changes to the Bailiff's role would only be made if politicians were given the mandate by a public referendum. A similar move had happened two years earlier with former Bailiff Sir Philip Bailhache amending then Chief Minister Ian Gorst's proposition.
A group of Guernsey deputies were this year working on proposals for States meetings to be chaired by a Westminster-style Speaker who would be independent of the judiciary – although those proposals never gained momentum.
Sir Timothy himself even recently predicted that islanders could soon be experiencing a wave of déjà vu when it comes to this debate.
In a recent interview, he said: "Given that I've announced my retirement, there's a reasonable chance that the debate will raise its head once again, as it did shortly before I became Bailiff. In a liminal moment such as this, politicians may feel that it's the time to think about these sorts of things."
He added that his stance on the role had not changed, and he and his predecessors have taken every effort to maintain political neutrality and fairness.
He also spoke about the practical difficulties of electing a Speaker and how those member's constituents would suffer and lose their voice in the Assembly.
In seeking to answer this first question, Express struck up correspondence with the account – which has refused to reveal the identity of the persons involved.
"Our goals are to ensure the Bailiff remains in the States Assembly and continues as the civic head of the island," they re-stated in an email.
They named a coalition of Deputies and Constables – a mixture of backbenchers and ministers – whom they said "are working on a proposition to remove the Bailiff from the States Assembly and potentially as the civic head before a new Bailiff takes office next year, following Sir Timothy's retirement".
They alleged that Deputy Montfort Tadier "accidentally" sent an email to all of the Constables containing a chain of emails "plotting to remove the Bailiff" from his dual role and said they were trying to obtain those emails via a freedom-of-information request.
But is there any truth in these allegations?
Politicians have been tight-lipped on whether another proposition could indeed be making its way to the States Assembly.
Deputy Jonathan Renouf – one of the named Deputies – said there was nothing to say at the moment, while Deputy Montfort Tadier said he too had nothing to add.
Former Chief Minister Kristina Moore did not reply to Express's enquiry about the mention of her name, but it's in 2022 she said she would support a move to replace the Bailiff with an elected Speaker if another politician proposed it.
However, Constable of St John Andy Jehan – also among the named – revealed he had "seen an email".
He told Express these emails were "sent in error by someone" to all constables, adding: "I'm not sure if a proposition is ready to be presented to the States, but should there be, I would be more than happy to support one to split the roles."
He did not comment further.
Pictured: Constable of St John, Andy Jehan, is Infrastructure Minister.
Deputy Sam Mézec, who currently serves as Housing Minister, has been particularly vocal about possible changes to the role on social media – and, as the mastermind behind previous propositions to split the role, it should perhaps come as no surprise that he was also named by the 'Save the Bailiff' campaign.
He wrote on social media: "Presiding over the States is a job an elected States Member could do for a quarter of the salary and do more with the role. When the Bailiff presides over the States instead of the court, we have to pay an English commissioner to preside over court. It's extremely expensive.
"An elected presiding officer would be much better value for money for the public. It would also allow the presiding officer to do more outreach in that role. It also theoretically covers off any potential conflicts when the same person helped make laws and then enforced them."
Speaking to Express in 2022, Deputy Mézec said that the issue was in Reform's manifesto for this term of office, but it would not be raised while the island was dealing with the cost-of-living crisis.
With the matter now raised, will hands be forced to reveal themselves?
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