Stephen Rouxel stepped aside from the presidency of the Chamber of Commerce before announcing his bid to fill the 38th deputy’s seat at the by-election on 29 April.
He said he wanted to pursue ‘radical economic policy ideas’ in the States and announced details of campaign events he will host from tomorrow.
Meanwhile, former deputy Andrew Taylor told the Guernsey Press yesterday that he was also considering entering the race ahead of nominations formally opening later this month. He stood down from the States voluntarily after a single term, whereas Carl Meerveld, who last week became the first candidate to declare his intention to contest the by-election, lost his seat at last summer’s general election.
Mr Taylor was an active and outspoken member of the previous States and said he had been puzzled by some of what he had heard and read about the first few months of the new Assembly.
‘I have certainly been concerned about the emerging narrative of deputies being silenced or afraid of speaking out, and the occurrence of a by-election has not escaped me. It is something I am considering,’ he said.
‘The opportunity to stand while knowing exactly who your colleagues will be is definitely attractive, but I need to determine whether I have the capacity to do the role justice alongside my current commitments.’
The regulated period for the by-election started yesterday, which means that any campaign expenditure incurred from now on must be recorded and declared by candidates.
Under rules agreed by deputies last week, each candidate will be allowed to spend up to £3,000 and no costs will be reimbursed by the States, in line with arrangements at the general election.
Mr Rouxel made a swift start to his campaign, announcing no fewer than 12 campaign events this week alone, and pledged to fight for the vacant seat as hard as his acting commitments with Gadoc would allow.
‘After giving it a lot of thought, I came to the conclusion that I need to change the political dialogue if I want to see any of the admittedly radical economic policy ideas I think are necessary to improve the business environment, increase the purchasing power of money in the pocket of the Guernsey people, job prospects for our kids and general economic stability,’ said Mr Rouxel.
‘The best way to do that seemed to me to publish a manifesto, show the electorate I have something worth saying, win the election, and then persuade the 37 other deputies and two Alderney representatives already in the House that the ideas are winners.’
His first campaign event will be between 10am and noon today in Costa on the Bridge. He will host another in the Thomas De La Rue at 7pm tonight. These are drop-in sessions for voters to talk to him, as are others later in the week at the Bathing Pools, Grange Lodge, the Beach House at Pembroke, JB Parkers in the Pollet, the London House pub and other venues.
‘I hope to debate political, philosophical and economic topics that affect the island with anyone on the island who wants to talk about the real problems facing Guernsey residents of all walks of life, demonstrate that I can win, and how I would affect change in our economic fortunes for everyone, once elected,’ he said.
Mr Rouxel is separated from his wife, Sarah Hansmann Rouxel, who returned as a deputy last year, having previously been in the Assembly between 2016 and 2020.
Several others are known to be considering standing in the by-election, but none has commented publicly at this stage.
Each candidate will be invited to participate in a one-on-one interview on the Guernsey Press Politics Podcast in late March or early April.
