Douzaine drop-in aims to demystify parish elections

Wednesday 06 October 2021

Women in Public Life will be holding an all-parishes drop-in session on Saturday to encourage more women to run in the upcoming November parish elections.

Parishes will be advertising their role vacancies in the Gazette Officielle on Friday 8 October and Friday 15 October, and the drop-in will be held on Saturday 9 October from 14:00 to 16:00 in the Castel Douzaine Room.

Current Douzainiers, Constables and School Committee members from all parishes will be available to speak about their current roles, what they do and why they do it.

Shelaine Green, Chair of Women in Public Life, said: “For us, the key to inspiring and supporting women to stand is information – women want to know what’s involved, what they will achieve and exactly how the election process works.  

“I’d encourage anyone who is thinking about standing in the November elections to drop in and have a chat this Saturday. No pressure at all, just a chance to find out more over a cup of tea.”

In 2020, 12 new women were elected, taking the percentage of women from 21% to 29%, however, women are still significantly under-represented in local politics, with three parishes having just one or two female Douzeniers.

Watch: 'What do the Douzaines do?' posted on Women in Public Life's Youtube channel discussing achievements and highlights of the role.

Louisa Aron, a Douzenier for St Peter's, told Express that she felt welcome when joining her local Douzaine in January. 

Mrs Aron gave birth to her daughter at the end of May and has been bringing her along to her parish meetings since: “Everyone was really nice about it…they were actively warm and welcoming.”

Bringing new blood into the Douzaine has given motivation to the parish, and other Douzaines, to be “more representative of the community and [therefore] more voices can be heard.”

Mrs Aron is encouraging anyone interested to pop in to Saturday's even and ask any questions or queries about the roles on offer. 

Women in Public Life will be running a social media campaign in the run up to the elections, including a series of video interviews highlighting Douzaine achievements. 

Nominations must be submitted by Monday 25 October and parish election meetings will be held on Wednesday 3 November.