This political party is raring to go, says its chairman

Barry Weir branded claims that parties would not have any major influence at the general election as ‘either naive or an insult to democracy’.

Mr Weir said the Alliance Party Guernsey, the only political party registered currently, has more than a dozen candidates ready to stand in the October election.

They have not been named publicly yet.

The comments casting doubt on the influence of political parties in the election were made at an Institute of Directors breakfast seminar last week by Policy & Resources Committee vice-president Lyndon Trott and Economic Development president Charles Parkinson.

Mr Weir said: ‘I couldn’t believe it when I read the comments that had been made that political parties on the island had fizzled out and that it wasn’t expected that there would be any parties standing at the next election.

‘I felt the comments were either naive or an insult to democracy.

‘Some deputies don’t seem to like the idea of political parties.

‘We have said time and time again a political party means more transparency and deputies being able to be held properly to account by the electorate for the policies that they are elected on. It will put an end to secret cliques and hidden associations.

‘We truly believe that this will help create a fairer political system for the island but there’s been resistance from the start. You wonder what they fear.

‘As a party, we took the decision to remain quiet until the elections were back on to try and help create unity while the island faced the Covid-19 crisis.

‘Rest assured that we are now raring to go to give the islanders the deputies they deserve which will represent the interests of a wider range of islanders to help create a better Guernsey for all.’

. The registration period for political parties opened on 10 February.

The general election will take place in October, having been postponed from June because of Covid-19.