A winner or loser? States wants islanders’ election views

What were the best things about the election in June? The Guernsey Press candidate podcasts? The ability to vote by post? Or the result?

People in Market Square had mixed opinions, though most we spoke too said they were overwhelmed by the number of candidates they had to deal with.

‘Who’s got the time to read through that whole book?’ said Katie Blampied.

‘I had an idea who I was going to vote for and did a bit of research, but I didn’t use all my votes. While island-wide voting gives you the opportunity to vote for good people outside your parish, it does mean that the list becomes very long.

‘The only way I think it could be improved is by having even fewer candidates.

‘I’m hopeful that we’ve got a good outcome, with a group of people who will work well together, which is what we really need.’

While some struggled to use all of their 38 votes, others said the sheer volume of candidates was enough to deter voting altogether.

‘I didn’t vote because I ran out of time,’ said Bev Allen.

‘Cut the numbers of candidates and then maybe next time I will. There’s a lot to go through. My friends would just ask each others’ opinions and ask them to do the groundwork for them.

‘I understand not everyone’s online but I also think the money that got spent on that manifesto booklet is scandalous.’

Originally from Thailand, Pookie Udomporn has lived in the island for 12 years and runs a popular hair salon in Town.

‘A couple of my clients were candidates so I heard a lot about it,’ she said.

‘This was the first year I felt interested in it. But when trying to sign the register, I found it a bit too complicated.

‘I decided to leave it, but I will do more studies for next time.’

Islander Alison Brier said she felt she did her part to learn the candidates and compile her choices, but acknowledged it was a time-consuming task.

‘There’s too many people to choose from,’ said Mrs Brier.

‘I don’t work and it took me a long time to read through them all.

‘A friend of mine actually asked to borrow my list to vote with what I decided. It wasn’t very long to learn them all and I had nobody round door-knocking.’

Mrs Brier said she felt obliged to use all of her votes because of how the system worked.

‘I had read that if you didn’t vote for the full 38, then other people might get in that shouldn’t. So you had to fill all your votes to make sure the people you wanted got in.

‘But I feel I did my part.’

One person who was in favour of the island-wide vote was Chris Betley, who was out with his dog, Eric.

‘It gave me something to read,’ he said.

‘I think it was good that it was a relatively short timespan because you had to focus and decide who your shortlist was.

‘I thought it was well organised and I was impressed.’

Rick Oke agreed that island-wide voting is beneficial.

‘It’s good because whatever decision is made affects the whole island,’ he said.

‘But there were far too many candidates.’

As one of the founding members of a ‘fair tax’ group, Mike Wood said he took the election far more seriously this year.

‘The flaw is having huge prospectus,’ he said.

‘It was OK, but some higher degree of local parish or a bit of a mix would be a good idea, so you get to know the people.’

The States survey can be found at gov.gg/electionsurvey2025.