Jersey’s States removed Chief Minister Kristina Moore just days ago but the election for her replacement will not take place for a week, leaving numerous Ministers also in limbo until a successor is selected. 

But their Assembly was able to conclude the vote of no confidence in a day while Guernsey was forced to split the debate between two meeting in November and December as many deputies were unavailable to sit at short notice, and the usual facilities were unavailable. 

On the other hand, Guernsey’s States was able to elect a new Policy & Resources Committee within 24 hours of the previous members being removed from office. 

Deputy Simon Fairclough said it took Guernsey “too long” to consider the matter initially but were “quite right to move quickly to elect a new committee” following the vote. 

He said there’s “a lot of inertia about what’s happening in Jersey” with the government without clear leadership for a week or more. 

The new SACC Vice-President, Deputy Gavin St Pier, argued the issue should be “at the top of the pile” as pausing the vote mid-debate was “frankly absurd”, and he feared it could “bring the States into disrepute to deal with its own business in time”. 

He said lessons needed to be learned quickly and the States shouldn’t lose sight of it. 

Pictured: New SACC member Deputy Gavin St Pier raised concerns over the long delay and the negative public view that could create.

It was accepted by SACC that passing the 2024 budget and dealing with urgent financial legislation had to happen before the turn of the year which contributed to the delay.  

There were also many amendments lodged against the budget which created a log jam of business in the Assembly, causing delays over many meetings 

Deputy Fairclough described it as “perfect storm of difficult circumstances”. 

Meanwhile, Deputy John Gollop said Guernsey did better in “filling the void” but Jersey executed the confidence vote itself more satisfactorily. 

But he noted Jersey has access to dedicated parliamentary facilities and can hold emergency meetings at short notice, whereas Guernsey shares premises with the courts. 

States Greffier Simon Ross noted that a local parliamentary rule where the sitting committee is considered to have resigned as soon as a vote of no confidence passes put the States on “the front foot” to move quickly. 

He also said carrying business over to the next meeting was a “new phenomenon”, as previously “overspill days” would be blocked out on weekends to deal with any overruns. 

Other officials said delays could be built in, but it would be preferable to complete business on-time to prevent backlog and absence issues. 

Blocking out a morning or afternoon following a vote of no confidence was also discussed to allow new President’s dedicated time to liaise with hopeful members.

Deputy Fairclough labelled the subsequent membership election period in December as “a bit crazy” and “not necessarily good governance”.