Guernsey Party leader is tight-lipped over its future

The few remaining in the party are meeting soon to discuss its future, after two of its four remaining political representatives quit last week over the potential introduction of a goods and services tax.

Its newly-elected parliamentary party leader refused to comment on the party’s future over the weekend.

Asked if he thought the Guernsey Party still had a future, Simon Vermeulen said: ‘I’m not answering yes or no to that question.’

Deputy Vermeulen, who replaced party founder Mark Helyar as leader at the end of last year, is one of just two remaining deputies, from the six candidates who were elected in 2020, to remain in the party.

He would not comment on last week’s resignations of colleagues Nick Moakes and Bob Murray, simply referring to the statement issued by the party on Friday: ‘Deputies Moakes and Murray have opted to withdraw as members of the party and continue their roles on an independent basis.

‘Both deputies have been party-endorsed since the 2020 election. We thank them for their respective contributions and wish them well.’

The two deputies left the party citing its official policy opposing the introduction of a goods and services tax as the primary reason for their resignations.

The only other remaining deputy in the party is John Dyke, who like Deputy Vermeulen has aligned himself with the ‘No to GST’ campaign, currently involving nine deputies.

Deputy Dyke said that he and Deputy Vermeulen were both conscious of their election commitments and that the party would be holding a meeting with its members to decide the best way forward.

‘It is unfortunate that GST has become such a problematic issue for us,’ he said at the weekend. ‘I remain convinced that more serious attention needs to be given to cost cutting, growth of the economy and more innovative ways of funding reduced levels of capital expenditure before resorting to tax hikes.’