When is a political party, not a political party?

Monday 05 March 2018

Anyone hoping for party politics to arrive in Guernsey before the next election may be disappointed.

The deputies behind three organisations which have recently been formed, say they are definitely not political parties and there seems to be little interest in forming an official political party in Guernsey on the face of it.

The Collins English Dictionary defines a political party as "an organisation of people who share the same views about the way power should be used in a country or society (through government, policy-making, etc)."

Guernsey currently has a consensus style of government with each of the 38 elected deputies and two Alderney representatives having an equal vote on all matters, which they vote for independently. With Island Wide Voting looking an increasingly likely option it has been suggested that that could herald the dawn of party politics here instead.

Last month Charter 2018 was introduced to the island, as a group of like minded deputies who wanted to stand together under a set of shared principals. Eleven deputies initially signed up (pictured below) with the two Alderney representatives following soon after. Other deputies are said to have either signed up or be considering signing up but as yet Express has not had that confirmed. 

Speaking at the time Charter 2018 was launched, the initial group of signatories told Express, it is not a party and "there is no leadership structure within 'Charter 2018'."

The group told the media the Charter will "go to reassure the people that many Deputies are aware of the issues and are working together to resolve them as they move towards the last two years of the electoral cycle" and that while it is not a party, the signatories said they "will work more closely together to address the issues facing our island such as the economy, transportation, enterprise and government efficiency. The group feel there is too much emphasis on spending rather than earning."

Following that group being launched, Deputy Gavin St Pier and Deputy Heidi Soulsby hosted a meeting with 40 members of the public, who had approached the pair interested in working together on a new form of government for Guernsey.

The pair said there are no secrets about what they are doing, with Deputy Soulsby adding: “We believe there must be a better way to conduct politics in Guernsey. We did not spend time trying to redesign the system of government or develop policy solutions for current challenges. But we were really encouraged that there clearly are people in the community who believe things can be done differently and want to contribute to the development of that.

Pictured: Deputy Heidi Soulsby

On Friday 2 March another group of "like minded deputies" went public with their plans to work together politically. Deputies Carl Meerveld, Peter Ferbrache and Joe Mooney are all signed up to Charter 2018 but have also now formed a Political Association, which they say will be given a formal name in due course. 

Again, the trio say this is not a political party. Speaking to Express, Deputy Meerveld said:

"The UK style of party politics is based on executive government, which is not what is envisaged or desired. The Association is intended to preserve the best elements of our consensus style of government while making it more effective at addressing the issues our Bailiwick faces. The proposed Association will provide a unique opportunity for islanders participate in politics in a way that has never previously been available in Guernsey. Members will be kept informed of issues being debated before the States and will be encouraged to express their opinions on the issues important to them. Enabling them to more directly influence political decisions and have their views heard throughout the term, not just prior to an election."

Pictured: Deputy Carl Meerveld

Deputy Meerveld insisted "there is no intention of it becoming a party or promoting UK style party politics" adding that the "initial priority for the Association will be to campaign for Island-Wide voting in the referendum scheduled for October 10th this year. Based on the results of the referendum, the Association will then have 18 months to recruit candidates to stand in the next election."

The Association has appealed for anyone with certain skills who wishes to engage in their work to contact them, with specific requests for web designers and marketeers. Deputy Meerveld said any fees for this work will be met through membership payments:

"While we hope that much of the work in establishing and organising the Association can be done by volunteers, there are unavoidable costs associated with establishing and running any entity like this. We envisage these cost being funded through membership fees and donations."