Poppy Murray: The power of paying attention

I paid attention when Guernsey was officially ranked as having the most unaffordable housing in Western Europe, with average house prices being 16 times average salary.

I paid attention when a Guernsey Community Foundation report found that social housing waiting lists were at a 12-year high, and that emergency housing was unfit for purpose.

And I paid attention when the estimated number of men, women and children who are insecurely housed exceeded 1,000 – a 50% increase since 2016.

I paid attention when Health & Social Care said that some of the 1,799 people waiting for surgeries and medical procedures would be waiting ‘years rather than weeks’.

I paid attention when the States decided to cut annual funding of £200,000 for the Dyslexia Day Centre.

I paid attention when the States also decided to increase annual funding for Guernsey Finance to £2.5m. from 2022 to 2024 – an increase of £1m. a year).

I paid attention in 2021 when Guernsey ranked 19th and Jersey 24th in the PwC Women in Work Index for the size of the gender pay gap among 33 OECD countries.

I paid attention again in 2023, when Guernsey sat in 16th place with a gender pay gap 5% larger than Jersey’s, which advanced to 15th place.

I also paid attention when it was revealed that an 18-year-old woman entering the workforce in Guernsey today will never be paid equally to men in her working lifetime, unless something changes.

And I paid attention to the potential £194m. annual GDP boost for our economy if Guernsey could match Sweden’s female labour participation rate.

I paid attention when Jersey introduced one of the most progressive parental leave policies in Europe, with six weeks’ leave at full pay for both parents, and up to 52 weeks’ leave for each parent, while Guernsey maintained its position of offering the worst parental leave policy in Europe, with no paid leave for fathers, and just two weeks’ mandatory leave for birth mothers, and no statutory requirement for any employer to pay parental leave for either parent.

I paid attention when the director of education said ‘difficult decisions are needed’ regarding a potential need to reduce the number of reception classes due to Guernsey’s falling birth rates.

I also paid attention when the number of people aged over 85 in Guernsey was estimated to double by 2045.

I paid attention when my friend – while pregnant – was told she had already left it too late to find a nursery place and the best that could be offered was a nursery spot when her child turns two years old.

I paid attention when experts from the Met Office, comprising mathematicians, meteorological scientists, data scientists and weather and climate experts, confirmed that 2022’s extreme heat wave could be attributed to climate change, and to the deputies who disagreed.

I paid attention to the deputies who filed an amendment for an indefinite delay to part of the new sexual offences legislation, and to the fact that they filed it during Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Awareness Week.

I also paid attention when a lawyer said the amendment was misleading to the public and based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the law.

I paid attention when expert guests I had invited to Guernsey to speak about gender inequality in policing and violence against women and girls raised concerns after one deputy in attendance told them that women in Guernsey don’t want to be in the police force but want to be at home.

I paid attention, when listening to States’ meetings, to deputies repeatedly failing to meet the basic principles that we teach children, including treating others how you want to be treated, listening when others are speaking, and that if you see someone being bullied and do nothing then you are just as culpable as the bully.

I paid attention to deputies – who we trust, and pay, to attend debates as our representatives – refused to own their decision to stage a walkout during one such debate, instead citing simultaneous bladder control issues, which rather coincidentally led them to needing a bathroom break at the same time.

When I was a news reporter, I paid attention to which deputies would speak to me directly, and which deputies would speak only through the States’ communications team via airbrushed statements.

I paid attention to the deputies who were willing to put themselves in a vulnerable position by granting me an interview about their lives outside of politics.

I paid attention to which deputies replied to emails and invitations, turned up to events, answered the phone, listened, and acted, and which deputies didn’t.

I paid attention every time a deputy either helped or hindered something I was trying to achieve.

By paying attention for four years, I have come to understand how much influence 38 elected individuals have on my life.

Decisions made by the next 38 deputies will play a huge role in determining whether I will be able to purchase an affordable house, how long I will have to wait for surgery if I need it, and whether I will be able to afford time off if I have a child.

If I have a child who is a girl, whether she will ever be paid equally to men, whether she will be taken seriously and given equal opportunities if she wants to join the police force, whether she will be believed if she is sexually harassed or assaulted – and there is currently a 97% chance that she will be – and whether she will see justice served against her perpetrator, will also ultimately hinge on the views and decisions of those 38 people.

Except, the views of those 38 people are meant to represent the views and best interests of over 64,000 others. The States Assembly is meant to represent us. Does our current States Assembly reflect the island’s population?

No. From gender, race and age to financial circumstances, our current Assembly is far from representative of all islanders.

However, this does not automatically mean that they are unable, or unwilling, to represent a diverse community.

There is no perfect tick-list for what a deputy should be. What voters will be looking for in candidates in this year’s election is highly subjective.

By paying attention, I feel confident in the traits I will be looking for in candidates. Something that should unite us all in what we look for, in my view, is candidates who will pay attention.

We need deputies who will pay attention to the public, to each other, to the island’s challenges and opportunities, to expert advice, to the voices of marginalised communities and to the diverse concerns of all islanders, making informed decisions that reflect the needs and aspirations of the people they serve – us.