Sally Rochester: ‘Government needs to regain islanders’ trust’

I went along to Deputy Andy Cameron’s ‘politics and a pint’ event on Friday evening. As a candidate standing for election on 18 June (have you registered to vote yet?) it was a great opportunity to talk to the people of Guernsey about what mattered most to them, and it was also a pleasure to meet other candidates and deputies.

As I cycled home after a really enjoyable couple of hours, I thought about what I had heard. The problems with education and housing were undeniably top of the list of topics for the evening and I will ponder on those incredibly important issues as I wrestle with my manifesto, yet again. There was one other message that was ringing in my ears as I went home, though, and that was how much people appreciated the opportunity to speak to the candidates and deputies face to face. The conversations I had were about problems faced but also reasoning for political decisions that have been made. The two-way nature of these conversations made me think about the importance of consistent, clear and frequent communication from deputies to our community but also in the opposite direction.

Many Guernsey residents have told me, in conversations about the election, that there is no point in voting as they don’t believe it will make any difference. I don’t think that this lack of trust in government and engagement with democracy is peculiar to Guernsey. Recent UK polls showed that trust in politicians and government ministers has reached an all-time low, with only 9% of those surveyed expressing trust in these role holders. It was 1983 the last time ratings were so low, which is more than 40 years ago. Closer to home a report concerned with the voter turnout for the 2022 Jersey election, one of the lowest across the OECD at 31%, looked into why many people who were able to vote chose not to. The key reasons were ‘it wouldn’t have made a difference’ and ‘I don’t trust the political system’. Based on the conversations I have had and comments made online I don’t suppose we are any different here in Guernsey.

So what can be done?

Well, trust is an essential ingredient for a well-functioning democracy. Our island has historically enjoyed high levels of trust within, and across, the community. Hedge veg and low levels of theft being two very strong examples. It should follow that, as a small community, we trust those who represent our wants and needs in the States of Deliberation. If that currently isn’t the case then we can start to tackle that lack of trust by making the most of being no more than nine miles away from any other member of our community. The ‘politics and a pint’ evening is a great example of what can easily be set up.

However, my research tells me that it’s not just about getting together, it’s also about how our politicians talk about what they are doing. We need them to demonstrate that they understand our individual and community needs, that they are working on the priorities that our island feels are most important and that they are honest, competent and credible.

Honesty should, in theory, be easy. If we can’t expect our deputies to be honest then democracy doesn’t have a chance but the problems we face, such as housing, are complex. Honesty isn’t just being truthful. It’s also not pretending there is an easy fix. With the pace of news, social media and the need to communicate complex problems in quick and simple ways, we can lose the truth quite easily.

There is some good news, though. Trust in public institutions can be rebuilt, albeit it commonly takes around 10 years. I would say we need to do it faster than that. We need to make it a priority for our government and they need to get cracking now. Deputies need to communicate what they are doing and why. They need to do that more often to combat misinformation and disinformation and they need to do it in a way that all of our community can access the information they are sharing. They say that for employees to absorb and understand a business strategy they need to hear it many times and in many different ways. I can’t imagine political matters are any different.

One of the most effective ways of engaging the community in democracy is by providing the opportunity to be part of creating policies. Citizens’ assemblies, community-wide consultations, drop-ins and surveys have been used effectively to date but our island needs more. By creating stronger relationships with community bodies such as member organisations, charities and businesses, government can distribute information more quickly and effectively. These same organisations are able to pull together community wants, needs and viewpoints more effectively than government and so are a really important part of this jigsaw puzzle.

A survey by the OECD found that only 30% of citizens in the countries surveyed believed they had a say in what government does. Here in Guernsey we can do a lot to address that problem. More face-to-face access to deputies would be a huge step forwards. Clear, frequent and honest communication with the community by individual deputies and across government would also close the gap between politicians and their community.

As evidenced by the clear priorities from the ‘politics and a pint’ evening, voters want deputies to work hard to respond to their top priorities and I suspect we can do a lot to make it easier for everyone to understand what action has been taken and what hasn’t and why. I don’t know how you feel, although I hope you feel the same, but I can forgive well-intentioned mistakes as long as I know what went wrong, why and what is going to be done about it. Nobody is perfect and government won’t always get it right, being honest about that is important to us all.

So, yet again, I find that time on my bike is great thinking time and having the opportunity to research the topic for this article has been time very well spent. Guernsey is not alone in falling short in bringing the community along with government through its last term but that doesn’t mean it is not an incredibly important issue to address. I hope that our islanders rush to the polls on 18 June and re-ignite their democratic participation but, regardless of the voter turnout, I hope I have put forward a case for more, honest, frequent and two-way communication between deputies and the community for everyone’s wellbeing.