Our States Assembly likened to House of Commons
PARTY politics in Guernsey would not necessarily increase partisanship in its parliament, according to a UK MP who came to observe last week’s States meeting.
Ian Liddell-Grainger, who represents Bridgwater and West Somerset, was visiting Guernsey’s States Assembly in his capacity as chairman of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
He said he was surprised by the degree of similarity with the House of Commons, in which he sits as a Conservative, and he said he would be watching with interest to see how parties evolve in the Bailiwick. However, he said belonging to a party did not wholly define the work of a UK MP.
‘I’ve done 20 years in one party but I spend a lot of time doing cross-party work,’ he said, ‘through all my political groups, standing committees, etc, and 99% of my work in parliament is cross-party.
‘The amount of times I need to be “the Conservative MP” is very low and in my constituency, basically never.’
Guernsey had its first real taste of party politics in the run-up to last year’s general election – the first in the island’s history to see all members elected on an island-wide mandate.
However, the Guernsey Party, now with just five members after the suspension of Chris Le Tissier and the departure of Deputy Liam McKenna, is the only surviving party.
The biggest official party was the Guernsey Partnership of Independents, but its 10 elected members were often at pains to argue they were not really a party and they were formally wound up at the beginning of this month.
The Alliance Party Guernsey was ahead of the game, being the first to register at the Greffe, but none of its 11 candidates were elected.
Ironically, after Mr Liddell-Grainger’s visit and observations, the early September States meeting once again bore witness to accusations of partisanship, bloc voting and even of members voting against their own principles in order to show allegiance.
Deputies Carl Meerveld and Yvonne Burford were particularly vocal on this issue during the debate on secondary education and the targets of their disappointment were on opposite sides of the divide.
If these apparent allegiances continue, it may lead some to expect full-blown party politics by the time the polls open for the next general election.
For Mr Liddell-Grainger, this will not necessarily signal an end to cooperation across the Assembly.
‘The grass is always slightly greener,’ he said.
‘I don’t think that the UK parliament could operate without parties because it’s just too big but I think that if you look at a county council, for instance, in say, Somerset, they do have parties. But I wouldn’t necessarily know which person is in which party because they are there for the good of their county and for the good of their constituents.
‘So, it’s horses for courses.’
