‘It is better to get to know parish candidates face-to-face’

Parishioners will go to the polls after people at the recent parish meetings opted for deferred elections.

In St Peter Port 10 candidates are vying for five seats on the douzaine, while two will go head-to-head for the role of constable to replace Jenny Tasker. There will also be elections for places on the schools committees.

Nine people are standing for five seats on the douzaine in St Martin’s.

Drop-in sessions were held at both The St Martin’s Parish Hall and the St Peter Port Constables Office where parishioners will be able to cast their votes between 10am and 8pm on Wednesday.

St Martin’s is holding another meet-the-candidates session between 6pm and 8pm tomorrow. [Tues]

In St Martin’s, Anne Sandwith said she had missed the parish meeting but had read the candidate manifestos.

‘This is an opportunity for me to meet them and I think you get more from talking to people face-to-face,’ she said.

‘My biggest concerns are the erosion of the green spaces, the amount of traffic in the lanes, and the environment generally. Without a direct link to parish deputies anymore, I think it’s a good idea to have these drop-ins so people can ask questions.’

Junior Constable John Bamford said this was the first contested election in St Martin’s for 14 years and the number of candidates was unprecedented.

‘With deferred elections we had more time to help the electorate get better informed and while you can always read things, meeting face to face can be very helpful,’ he said.

Candidates in St Peter Port include two sitting douzeniers and one who is hoping to return

Ben Nicholls, who is a St Peter Port douzenier, said this was an opportunity for him to meet the new people.

‘With island-wide voting I think politics is at the forefront of people’s minds which is probably why we have so many candidates and competition is good,’ he said.

‘I think it’s important to have a good spread of skills on the douzaine with people from various backgrounds.’

Sue Le Feuvre thought she was a bit old to stand for anything herself but wanted to see what candidates had to offer.

‘One of my biggest concerns is the Town centre,’ she said.

‘There’s a much bigger picture than just trying to fill the empty shops and the message is everywhere that the small high streets are dying.’

Mrs Tasker said she thought deferred elections were the only democratic way to do things.

‘There were only 70 people at the parish meeting,’ she said.

‘In 2017 when we had an election for constable there were 40 people at the meeting yet 352 voted in the deferred election.’