‘It is impossible to meet 31,000 voters face-to-face’

Following the party’s snub of a questionnaire sent to all candidates by the ESG asking for information about their background, achievements and past experience and their explanation that they prefer face-to-face dialogue, one member of ESG was critical of the reason for all 11 candidates of the Alliance Party not to respond.

John Langlois, a member of ESG, a non-political group whose aim is to enhance democracy and provide meaningful information about candidates, said that when he stood as a deputy for the Castel he found that it was extremely difficult, if not impossible, to have meaningful face-to-face discussions with just 8,000 voters.

Further, when he stood for St Peter Port, when it was just one electoral district, he said it was even more difficult and in his opinion for a candidate to expect to have meaningful face-to-face discussions with 31,000 voters is impossible.

‘That is why the ESG published the candidates’ answers, to help voters get the information they otherwise would not have to cast an informed vote,’ he said.

In their statement the Alliance Party disputed the ESG statement that hustings were not taking place and said they had always been transparent with policies and candidates’ individual backgrounds and experience published on the election and their own website, as well as in the manifesto booklet.

In response to their comment on hustings, Mr Langlois pointed out that what the ESG had said was that ‘customary’ hustings were not taking place.

‘In the past, Guernsey voters were used to seeing and hearing from all candidates standing in an Electoral District at the same time,’ he said.

‘Questions were asked by voters under a neutral parish chairman who invited all candidates to answer each question in turn so that a comparison between them could be made. There was then a report in the following day’s Guernsey Press so that those who were not present could also be informed.’

He accepted that that Guernsey tradition is now a thing of the past and added that traditional Guernsey hustings were quite different from stage-managed presentations as happens outside the island.

He appreciated that some candidates have never been to a traditional Guernsey hustings, particularly those who had not long arrived in the island, so they have no way of comparing one with the other.

Mr Langlois said that he has never voted for candidates in any election before knowing their background, achievements and past experience and would certainly not do so this time and emphasised that this was a very important election when the electorate should vote for candidates whom they have carefully researched.

‘It is not like sticking a pin in a list to pick a horse in the Grand National,’ he said.

The Alliance Party maintain that people can ask questions through their website and at their hustings, sticking with the official site and their party’s own channels of communication. In total, there were 88 responses to the questionnaire, with 30 candidates in total not providing answers.

n As part of its bid to get people to vote, The Electoral Support Group has published some key questions people should ask before deciding who to back. https://2020esg.gg/

Letters Page 18