Deputy Peter Roffey was a member of the States during Mr Guille’s term of office and was also a Vale representative. ‘Graham had an old-school approach to politics with a quiet, reflective demeanour,’ he said.
‘Maybe his calm personality was rooted in his previous career as a firefighter.
‘He had a considerable intellect, in fact he was a member of Mensa, although he never boasted of it.
‘Graham’s philosophy in life reflected his pride in his Guernsey heritage and indeed his Sark connections too.’
Deputy Roffey said Mr Guille had also researched and written up much of the history of his family, but perhaps his biggest political interests were in population control and housing.
‘Indeed he was present, as a former Housing Authority member, just a few weeks ago when the GHA officially opened its 1,000th property.
‘Graham will be missed by many.’
Former Vale deputy Matt Fallaize remembered Mr Guille as ‘a loyal and conscientious servant of our Vale parish’.
He said few other deputies worked as hard as Mr Guille on parishioners’ cases, especially those involving housing and social welfare issues.
He and Mr Guille car-shared the journey to and from States meetings for several years and he said: ‘In that time I got to know Graham as a skilful raconteur.
‘He was quite typical of a certain type of deputy of that era: very independent of mind, firm in his views but respectful of opponents, in some ways quite conservative but with reforming instincts, never populist, and always primarily concerned with the least well-off in our society.
‘Graham’s interest in politics never waned and after he retired we kept in touch and I always valued his experience and advice.
‘My thoughts are with his family, who are rightly very proud of his contribution to public life in our island.’
Mr Guille joined the States as the result of a by-election in July 2003, when he was elected to replace former deputy Rodney Collenette, who had stepped down due to ill health.
He served until the 2012 election and during his time was a member of many committees.
As well as being Housing minister he served on the Home Department, Horticulture Committee, Gambling Control – he was also chairman of the Gambling Legislation Review sub-group – and Treasury & Resources, among others.
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