Quantity or quality?

We might soon find out, thanks to Deputy Mark Helyar, who plans to bring in a requete this term to reduce the number of deputies by 10.

Early indications show that some of his political colleagues could support the idea in principle, along with a fair proportion of the electorate.

After all, if the system allows for surplus deputies to coast along without even having the responsibility of a committee seat, why should we shell out for those extra salaries?

There will be many, however, who are more minded to heed Deputy Peter Roffey’s words of caution.

In his column today, he warns against ‘grand, dramatic gestures on the floor of the States, which introduce radical change without sufficient consideration or reflection’.

He also questions the real motive behind the proposal. ‘I really doubt that the end game for those pushing this agenda is consensus government with fewer members. Rather it is putting all of the power in just a few hands, which would be disastrous in my opinion,’ he says.

The idea of concentrating too much power into too few hands is concerning enough, but it’s even worse when you don’t trust those left wielding it.

Perhaps the real problem then is one of quality, not quantity. In which case, how do we ensure the next crop of deputies is of sufficient calibre?

The jury’s out, but it seems unlikely that cutting numbers will achieve that.