“We never were a true political party”

Wednesday 01 September 2021

The Guernsey Partnership of Independents has disbanded, just short of a year since it was registered as a political party ahead of Guernsey's first fully Island-wide Election.

The group was created with a mission statement to ‘encourage the highest standards of island governance’ according to its website, championing accountability, autonomy, and swift government.

The GPI membership included former Chief Minister, Deputy Gavin St. Pier, and Deputies Heidi Soulsby, Lyndon Trott, Jonathan Le Tocq, Lindsay de Sausmarez, Tina Bury, Sasha Kazantzseva-Miller, Yvonne Burford, Steve Falla and Al Brouard.

“We were successful in getting ten of our 21 candidates elected,” said Deputy St. Pier.

“The clue was always in our name, ‘Independents’. Since the election, we have never met as a group to discuss or agree any policy positions,” he said.

Pictured: “We formed as a group of independent individuals, brought together by shared principles and values rather than policies,” said Deputy St. Pier.

Deputy Le Tocq has been a member of the GPI since its inception and said the ethos of the partnership will remain beyond the group’s dissolution.

“The things we share, along with others, expressed in our shared values and a willingness to work together constructively for the common good, still remain whether the Guernsey Partnership of Independents exists or not,” he said.

He has been joined by Deputy Bury, who celebrated what the group achieved.

“I am proud of what we achieved, including the fact that 5 out of 10 of our successful candidates were women, particularly given there were only 8 women in total elected last year,” she said.

Pictured: “We never intended and have never made decisions as a group and we were quite clear about that during the election campaign,” said GPI member, Deputy Bury.

The group made several commitments prior to the General Election in October last year. This included a transformation of the public sector and work to develop a sustainable tax system.

Deputy St. Pier has indicated that this kind of work may be best achieved by policy-based parties, instead of a group of independents.

“Whilst we chose to stand in the last election as independents with common principles and values, I do think the inevitable direction of travel is for the development of policy-based parties, which are of course the norm in most democratic systems," he said.

Pictured: Ten out of 21 candidates succeeded in getting elected during last term's Island Wide Election.

“There are a significant number of people who share my view that Guernsey needs a positive alternative to the current government," continued Deputy St. Pier.

“Those people, like me, believe we need a policy platform firmly focussed on Guernsey’s future that is fiscally and environmentally responsible and socially liberal – a party that stands for a proactive set of policies that generate investment in our future," he said.