Voters left to decide if it's time to party

We now have three political organisations officially registered, they will between them field in excess of 20 candidates.

It will be more, but there has been an unexpected shyness from the two parties to say who is involved. With manifestos still being agreed, and attempts made to attract more people, there is a sense of rushing to the line.

Earlier this week the Guernsey Partnership of Independents used the stage of Beau Sejour, where its leaders have sat to make public statements about Covid-19, to introduce itself.

It has spent a lot of time already trying to explain why it is not a party, and its prime focus is on not revisiting majority decisions of the States and behaving well. A revolution it is not.

But as the largest grouping so far, its strength will be in numbers, an ability if successful to elect its leader to be the Policy & Resources president and therefore set the agenda.

It shares an almost identikit constitution with The Guernsey Party, which is a party, but one which we won’t know exactly who is involved until next week. It does, though, have clear political leanings to the centre right and will have agreed policies.

Then there is the Alliance Party, which launched first but was last night at its party conference still finalising its policies.

The question remains how the Guernsey voter will react to these organisations, whether they will accept halfway houses, prefer concrete policy objectives or want to stick with pure independents who are not tied to any deals. People from inside and outside the States have already declared their intention, they will have to hope the organised machines they face do not crowd out the space for public attention.

The dynamics caused by this nascent party scene, coupled with the island-wide vote, leave a volatile and unpredictable picture. But what all these changes and intrigue have not done so far is have a dramatic impact on the numbers signing up to the electoral roll.

That closes tomorrow.