When island-wide voting means Brexit

His comments were overheard by another grizzled old hack, whose body language was not encouraging. What did they make of it, I enquired. ‘Waffle,’ came the terse response, as they returned to hunting other politicians to pull the legs off.

OK, so I’m not that choosy about the company I keep, but that assessment was a trifle harsh. After all, Deputy Inder was simply being honest with the BBC. The committee, Sacc, had really only just started its task and so hadn’t sorted the answers as to how the ground-breaking election would be conducted.

To paraphrase, they’d met the deputies and sort of knew what their colleagues didn’t want and wouldn’t put up with and therefore hoped to avoid alienating them, and would be working dashed hard to ensure the elections went ahead smoothly in June 2020.

Nothing objectionable there, eh? Except, all I heard was ‘Brexit’. Over and over. And pretty chilling it was, too.

You see, like the decision to leave the European Union, island-wide voting wasn’t supposed to happen. Even we thick Guerns were reckoned to realise that the benefits of IWV were illusory – assuming we weren’t bedazzled by the multi-option referendum process itself, which also adopted a system of preferential and transferable voting just to further muddy the waters.

However, 52% of the 45.1% (i.e., not many) of those on the electoral register and eligible to vote that day took the view that, bloney heng, we’d have change, us.

So now that the electoral tail has wagged the dog, Deputy Inder has suddenly morphed into Theresa May – minus the kitten heels – and a determination that island-wide voting means island-wide voting.

This is disturbing. No, not the thought of Deputy Inder in slingbacks and trademark roll-up, (you’ll never lose that now) but island-wide voting delivered at any price.

For the avoidance of doubt, I’m neither a supporter of, nor especially hostile to, IWV. It was obvious that a majority of islanders favoured it, largely irrespective of any consequences, and, again like Brexit, we’re embarking on a great experiment that’s likely to end in tears.

So be it. Decision made and all that. The key is how the process is made to work and fair play to Deputy Inder and his Sacc colleagues for picking up a project that will make or break reputations. And they have a lot to do in a short space of time, especially in an island that can take 10 years to update animal cruelty legislation.

The risk, you see, is over the corners that are cut to ensure the timetable is met and the compromises made so that no one is seen to be preventing IWV from happening on time.

Sacc’s officers will be identifying the issues and the legislation required and, I imagine, opening early dialogue with the Ministry of Justice to make sure that the UK’s confident that our elections remain free and fair. No doing a Sark here, eh?

So the to-do list is formidable and, purely as an example, how are we going to handle Guernsey’s just emerging political parties and associations?

Jersey has had legislation covering the registration of political parties since 2008. That means something like the Islanders Association Without Carl Meerveld’s Active Involvement Party couldn’t be registered.

Not because it was ‘offensive, obscene or otherwise inappropriate’ but because the title is more than six words long, which shows how much thought the crapauds have put into this.

Have we time to do the same and cover off matters like registering logos, not passing off as other legitimate parties, keeping records of officials and filing annual accounts?

That’s before IAWCMAIP (or other duly authorised abbreviation) decides it won’t bother to register. Jersey is different as it has a history of parties and seems rather to like them. Guernsey does not, so how do you legislate for something that might not exist, except that it does?

The main thing for many, I suppose, is whether candidates will be able to ‘buy’ votes or win influence through their own wealth or by being backed by political parties that aren’t.

Yes, both islands have laws covering election expenses and Jersey’s restricts an island-wide senator to £2,800, or, £1,700 where the candidate seeks election as deputy or connétable; plus 11 pence for each person entitled to vote in the election, which says much about the perceived value of electors.

Then, of course, there are notional donations, be they of cash, goods, services or discounts, and the handing over to the States Treasurer of any anonymous donations received.

But what of an organisation that, say, campaigns generally on the benefits of hats for gentlemen, claiming that all true leaders, influencers and the highly esteemed wear one? Have nothing to do with those who don’t.

Or the campaign for longer runways and economic development that launches a telling and sustained publicity blitz, stopping just as candidates declare their hand and manifestos?

This, of course, is before we get on to the matter of whether IWV will produce an Assembly better equipped to deal with the tasks that we and life generally demand of it.

In a perverse way, island-wide voting will make candidates less accountable, as hustings – something else for Sacc to sort out – will become less revealing and you’ll no longer have your district/parish deputy candidate banging on the door to quiz for an hour or two.

In short, the old order is changing. We have no idea whether it will be for better or worse but we do know that island-wide voting means island-wide voting, so that’s OK.

In the meantime, as we await the arrival of a brave new world or political Armageddon, I have a favour to ask. Anyone want to contribute a few quid so I can buy a leopardskin-print fedora?

There’s a chap I know who’ll be needing it before June 2020.

And finally…

I appreciated Deputy Marc Leadbeater taking the trouble in the letters page to confirm that he does have a life, thank you, and it’s flashing front cycle lights that exercise him, not red ones at the back, but I do wonder who he was glaring at while attending the Scrutiny Management hearing he also mentioned.

The only reason I didn’t get there was because I was 1,200 miles away in Spain, so who was the poor chap who copped the blame on the day I wonder?