He was elected onto the Economic Development Committee, defeating Simon Vermeulen by 26 votes to 11 in a secret ballot.
Deputy Leadbeater was nominated by the committee’s president, Sasha Kazantseva-Miller.
His opponent was nominated by outgoing member Deputy Haley Camp, minutes after she had issued a stinging rebuke of the committee’s leadership in a statement explaining why she had resigned.
Although there are examples of committee presidents sitting on other committees, the practice has become much less frequent over the past 25 years as the States has significantly reduced its number of committees and expanded their workload.
Deputy Leadbeater told the States that he had jumped at the chance of joining Economic Development partly to help strengthen joint working with Home Affairs.
‘The most important piece of work for Home Affairs this term is the review of the population management regime and that is an important piece of work for Economic Development as well,’ he said.
‘I would like the opportunity to bring the two committees closer together, certainly in this really important area.
‘We also have a review of liquor licensing which sits across the two committees.’
In her nomination speech, Deputy Kazantseva-Miller said her committee would benefit from Deputy Leadbeater’s extensive experience in the construction sector.
He later said that using his experience on Economic Development could assist the States’ objective to accelerate housebuilding, as well as economic responsibilities falling more directly under his new committee.
‘The biggest problems we have at the moment in Guernsey are housing, housing and housing, and we have known that for quite some time,’ said Deputy Leadbeater.
‘My background was in construction and sourcing products from across Europe and trying to bring them in to keep costs down and keep abreast with new methods of construction.
‘Up and down various trade shows, from Germany to Italy and everywhere in between, I have established a network of contacts, and I would like to use my experience and knowledge in that area to try to boost and support the construction sector as we try to deliver the housing the island needs.’
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