Guernsey Press

Challenge for new faces gets ever greater

WITH a last-minute flurry of latecomers, including a political party arriving just inside deadline, the number of election candidates might top the magic century today.

Published

It easily tops the 2016 total and is surely indicative of a healthy democracy.

With so many candidates for just 38 places the chances of new faces, new ideas and a fresh look to the Assembly should be good. Those who are fed up with the current crop and want a clear-out will welcome so much choice.

Except it might not prove that simple.

Ironically, the more candidates there are, the more it favours established names.

It was a problem identified early on in the debate about island-wide voting – and in particular the single-district model the island selected.

Name recognition for those who have been in the public eye for the last four years (and probably those returning to politics after a break) is a massive advantage.

The more candidates come forward, the bigger the handicap for those who do not have a base of voters lined up.

Even the most unpopular deputies of this Assembly will start with a rump of loyal voters.

Challenging that in-built advantage will be difficult, especially as islanders keen for new faces will spread their votes thinly across about 70 new candidates.

The danger is that diversity will suffer. The sheer weight of votes from a like-minded majority will drown out those prepared to vote for somebody a bit different.

The odd tick in the box here and there from each voter for a fresh candidate will not be enough. Not unless they all alight on the same person.

In the parish/district system a charismatic unknown could knock on doors, speak well at hustings and use their energy and enthusiasm to persuade enough voters that they were worth a punt. They could break through.

Their task this year is much harder. The list of names is already overwhelming, even once a few no-hopers are discarded. Even the most committed voter will struggle to sift through all the possibles and find out what they stand for.

The nature of this election is ever evolving.