Parishes hope IWV will make a difference in their elections

The elections are due to take place on Wednesday 3 November and the deadline to return nomination forms to the parish offices is Monday 25 October.

Island Douzaine Council chairman Mick Fooks said island-wide voting had regenerated enthusiasm for grass roots politics.

‘Hopefully there should be more interest, the island-wide general election last year seems to have revived interest. There was more interest in last year’s November elections and hopefully that will continue through to this year’s.

‘The situation in each parish may be different, but the feedback I’m getting is that more people are interested, and there are campaign groups doing good work to revive it as well.’

Historically the douzaines have seen a lot of uncontested elections, but in 2020 there was a turnaround and the number of candidates for the vacant seats almost doubled the 2019 tally.

In particular, the number of women candidates nearly quadrupled from the previous year.

The hope is that last year was not a flash in the pan and St Andrew’s and St Sampson’s – have already held open days to try to attract new interest.

The douzaines have varied responsibilities, including setting and collecting parish rates, representing parishioners, and policing hedge-cutting.

Mr Fooks said it was a very fulfilling role because it was a chance to improve the day-to-day lives of neighbours.

‘It’s the opportunity to put something back into the island, particularly their parish, and people get a lot of satisfaction out of it.

‘It’s voluntary work, but it’s parish pride.

‘It’s great to see the increasing number of women candidates, and there’s interest from younger people as well, but sometimes older people have more time to give because if you’ve got a young family it can be quite onerous.’

Election night is in early November, but the parishes can defer the date if voters demand. Last year, St Peter Port and St Martin’s both had deferred elections.

Mr Fooks said it was something that voters should be aware of.

‘There are differing views on it. The law states that if you get seven people wishing for a deferred election then that’s fine and that’s democracy.

‘Some people come along to a parish meeting because they see that the election is taking place and they go along specifically with the wish to vote, but a deferred election can happen and the parish will have to hold it at another date.’

. The list of positions up for election will be published in La Gazette Officielle in the Guernsey Press on Friday.

Women in Public Life is holding a drop-in session at the Castel Douzaine Room in Les Beaucamps between 2 and 4pm on Saturday afternoon for those interested in finding out more.