Voting begins in Sark

RESIDENTS of Sark began to arrive this morning to vote in four new local politicians to help 'move the island into the future'.

There are seven candidates vying for the four vacant seats at Chief Pleas, with the polling station opening between 10am and 6pm today.

Residents can vote for up to four of the candidates bidding for a place in local politics, who are Alan Blythe, Paul Burgess, Peter Byrne, Natalie Craik, Simon Higgins, Matthew Joyner and Tony Le Lievre.

Returning officer Reg Guille, who is Chief Pleas president, said that by-election turn-out normally topped 60% of the electorate.

'We are a small community ,' he said. 'We know each other, there is a lot going on in Sark at the moment and people are interested in making sure they have a parliament that they want to move them on in the future.

'There is a big interest in elections in Sark, created by the 2008 election, which was the first democratic election.'

Voter David Synnott, who is tenant at La Seigneurie, labelled taxation as one of the big issues and said the super rich of Sark were scandalously under taxed.

Postman Simon Adams, 40, was another early arriver at the polling station.

'I just want people to look after Sark,' he said. 'That is what we all want – for the benefit of Sark.'