Leadership lacking on election day

They also in Paul Le Pelley backed a man who firmly believes La Mare should be rebuilt, but not at the higher pupil numbers supported by Treasury last term, and does not want to close another secondary school.

That creates an immediate tension in the system – we have major policy indications with significant support yet Policy & Resources, which is meant to set the direction of this Assembly, has yet to utter a word.

P&R president Deputy Gavin St Pier believes in ending selection and moving to a three-school model but yesterday's vote is a major undermining of that. How will his committee go about major policy co-ordination and resource allocation in Education now?

Already you sense that policy is trickling up rather than pouring down, tying the hands of P&R in its infancy. It will face some arm twisting from new Health & Social Care president Heidi Soulsby, who made it clear even last week that adequately resourcing that committee was vital. At Environment & Infrastructure we are told there will be no return to paid parking from its new president.

There was a sense yesterday that the leadership this new system was promising has yet to materialise. Where once the chief minister would have proposed a team to fill the key roles, we had at times a vacuum. P&R did not put forward a candidate for Home Affairs or for Environment & Infrastructure, for example. No one has been found to fill the Transport Licensing Authority job, and it sounded like Deputy John Gollop's move for Development & Planning was decided late in the day.

The body of this States is already visibly more politically volatile and stronger willed than the last.

And there are some very big hitters who will be firing from the backbenches rather than sitting at the top table. It promises to be a lively four years.