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You’ve been accused of a crime you didn’t commit. The prosecution lawyer is ready to make her opening remarks. The court waits patiently as your defence lawyer rushes in and takes a seat. It’s only then you question your choice of budget defence advocate. How smart was it to pay your lawyer half of what the prosecution advocate charges?
Quality professionals are expensive. The average UK CEO earns £77,000.
Putting this into perspective, it’s 167% the basic pay of a Jersey politician. The basic annual salary of a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons is £81,932, or 178% what we pay. In addition to this salary, UK MPs are able to claim allowances to cover the costs of running an office and employing staff, and maintaining a constituency residence or a residence in London. Of course, UK constituencies are much larger than those we’d find locally, but island issues can be just as complex where health and infrastructure are concerned.
The States Members' Remuneration Review Body (SMRRB) in its 2019 report recommended all States members should be paid £50,000 from June 2022, with elected ministers earning £57,500 and the chief minister paid £65,000 per year. The basic pay increase for 49 States Members, Ministers and President of Scrutiny Allowance, Chief Minister Allowance and associated pensions contributions totals £411,100. To put it in real terms, this’d be £88,900 cheaper than one Charlie Parker severance pay-off.
SMRRB published the Jersey States Members’ Pay Research Findings in 2016 by Island Global Research. One of the many conclusions from the survey was the pay for States Assembly Members should be set to attract the highest calibre of candidates. In fact, only 29% of those surveyed disagreed with this. Interestingly, higher income level respondents felt stronger that States Members pay should increase. It’s reasonable to infer that higher income level respondents would be those in senior or professional roles in the island possibly. They’d be the decision makers in their given trades or professions maybe.
Let’s pay States Members what we are worth.
I want the best politician in post when decisions are being made about my future and the future of those in my community. For less than one Charlie Parker pay-off a year we’d meet SMRRB recommendations. But even then it’d still put us way behind Ireland, UK, Bermuda, IOM, Wales and Scotland in what we pay our decision makers relative to local pay, according to the 2019 4insight research in their report for the SMRRB. Jersey should be aiming higher than this in our forthcoming search for political talent. We often use UK data as a benchmark and regularly outperform the UK norm, but we seem to be reluctant to apply this mind-set to attracting the very best representation in the States Chamber.
So, back to the court case.
Who wouldn’t want the very best defence lawyer they could afford representing them? Some decisions are too important to take risks with and we don’t often get that second chance in life. Jersey must set its political remunerations at least on a par with UK thresholds and entice the very best people across the widest backgrounds into politics. I don’t want budget representation; I’d like the very best talent we have to offer on island to seriously consider standing for election this June and give the Jersey electorate the exceptional choice they deserve.
Paul Lister
Parcq du Pont Marquet, St. Brelade
