P&R split is worrying

After all, she’d come from the Partnership of Independents, very much the wrong side of this House, though she soon divorced herself from it.

As far back as the post-16 education debate, the first major divisive debate of the political term, Deputy Soulsby was out of step with the majority of the Policy & Resources Committee. That has continued into the debate on the PEH field, for example, and is likely to extend to what to do with the Alderney runway and the impending tax review.

Life in perpetual opposition gets wearing. Particularly if you feel you should be in a position to exert some influence, and then find it impossible to do so. And although P&R’s particular corridor of power isn’t talking publicly at the moment, Deputy Soulsby’s departing statement is damning enough to say it all.

‘It has been obvious for quite a while that my views and advice have not been valued by some on the committee, and I think there is little point in me continuing in the hope that things may get better.’

Those on the inside won’t be at all surprised to hear those words and may wonder again about the innermost workings of this most ‘unusual’ of governments.

Deputy Soulsby was happy to take on a senior role in P&R more than two years ago, probably aware that she may be out of step with colleagues on key issues. She may well have reasoned, as corporate boards do nowadays, that the challenge and diversity would be positive, invigorating even, and she could be a force for good. She was enthusiastic about the Government Work Plan and how it could help the States be more effective. It appears that’s all evaporated.

Could this mean that Deputy Soulsby, widely tipped to have an interest in the Chief Minister role in the future, is seeking to preserve her sanity and energy on the back benches?

Or a signal that the minority in this riven States has now been broken and beaten?