Back him or sack him

Tuesday 20 June 2017

Jersey's top politicians head into a pivotal day today amid deafening silence over the future of one of their number - Senator Philip Ozouf.

There has still been no comment from the Chief Minister's Department as to why Senator Ozouf was asked to resign on Friday so soon after being re-appointed - a request he refused - or whether he will remain in post.

The Chief Minister, Senator Ian Gorst, is facing a vote of no confidence today, which if successful, will effectively mean all the Ministers lose their positions. 

That Council is known to be deeply divided over the position of Senator Ozouf, with the Chief Minister having to decide whether to remove him ahead of the debate.

It appeared on Friday that Senator Gorst had acted, describing Senator Ozouf in media interviews as a "distraction", and reminding islanders that he wasn't Senator Gorst's first choice for Treasury Minister back in 2011, or in 2014 when he appointed Alan Maclean instead. He said he was going to consult back-benchers about what to do next. 

As yet, nothing further has happened - Senator Ozouf remains in post. Instead he used the JEP, and his personal blog, over the weekend, to defend his reputation over his credit card expenses, before any actual allegations of wrongdoing have even been made - in fact, the detail he referred to hasn't yet even been published, it's due in response to a forthcoming FoI request. The only detail to emerge so far is that Senator Ozouf has allegedly used his States credit card to pay for an expensive hair cut, a river cruise and clothes - but none of that can yet be verified. 

He also claimed there was a witch-hunt against him, that he was being "bullied," that senior civil servants had let him down, that there was a 'machiavellian' campaign against him, and suggestions of a 'black-hole' in States finances were just "fake news." 

The public split between the two most high-profile figures in Jersey politics, and the two who are pivotal to the critical financial services industry, is unprecedented in recent Jersey politics. 

Meanwhile, the man who has brought the vote of no confidence, Constable Chris Taylor, remains adamant that it will go ahead today, and that his issue is with the quality of Senator Gorst's leadership, and his decision-making, not Senator Ozouf. 

Unusually, no formal comments on the vote have been published ahead of the debate by the Council of Ministers, putting their side of the story - suggesting there is not a unified position. 

Constable Taylor will be hoping that the events of recent days, and the deep uncertainty over the Chief Minister's handling of Senator Ozouf, will be enough to win him the final votes he needs. He believes that with 17 supporters already, the backing of just a few assistant ministers or ministers will be enough to carry the proposition, and prompt a restructure for the remaining year which still exists before the next elections.