All 11 candidates bidding for a seat in the States will be invited to answer questions without notice in front of a live audience of voters.
The event, hosted by the Guernsey Press, will be held on a weekday evening during the week before polling day which is on 29 April.
The traditional hustings – the first of its kind for a decade, since the introduction of island-wide voting – is part of the Guernsey Press’s unrivalled coverage of the by-election, which also includes in-depth podcast interviews with candidates and a pull-out supplement printed with the newspaper this Wednesday.
‘Traditional hustings allow voters to see all their candidates answering questions on a single panel, and there is something valuable about that which you can’t get from any other format,’ said Guernsey Press editor James Falla.
‘We know there are concerns about how effectively candidates can be tested and assessed under the current island-wide electoral system, and the loss of hustings is regularly raised as a problem.
‘With 11 candidates, rather than dozens, the by-election is an unusual opportunity to bring back a traditional hustings, which can really test candidates’ mettle, and we feel our readers and voters generally want to have that opportunity again.’
Seats will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.
Questions will be invited from the audience on the night, possible supplemented by readers’ questions sent to the Guernsey Press in advance.
The event will also be live-streamed on the Guernsey Press Facebook page.
More details about the date, venue and other practical arrangements will be published soon.
The States Assembly & Constitution Committee welcomed the return of traditional hustings and encouraged voters to make use of the event.
‘Traditional hustings were once a cornerstone of our democratic process and provide a vital opportunity for candidates to engage directly with voters and respond to questions in real time,’ said its president, Deputy Sarah Hansmann Rouxel.
‘That ability to think and respond on the hoof is exactly what is required in the Assembly, and hustings allow the electorate properly to assess the calibre of those standing.
‘With the event also being live-streamed and available for playback, it becomes an even more powerful tool for voters to compare candidates and make an informed choice.’
In-depth interviews with the candidates are now available on the Guernsey Press Politics Podcast feed.
A 16-page supplement, published with the Guernsey Press on Wednesday, will include each candidate’s profile, manifesto summary and answers to questions on topical issues which look set to be debated during the current States term.
The by-election is required by law to fill the 38th deputy’s seat, following the resignation of Jonathan Le Tocq, who has since been jailed.
The 11 candidates standing in the by-election are as follows: Luke Graham, Rob Harnish, Sam Haskins, Julie-anne Headington for Forward Guernsey, Ross Le Brun, Carl Meerveld, Tamara Mentehshvili, Stephen Rouxel, Nikki Symons, Andrew Taylor, Jonathan Wilson.
The candidate elected will serve for the remainder of the political term until the 2029 general election.
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