Many readers will have seen the motivational meme ‘10 things that require zero talent’. It’s something that could be put to the test when it comes to assessing the value of deputies. Because a case of the ‘part-time’ States member, one who is regularly missing from meetings, has the potential to divide the community, and divide opinion on what we expect from our deputies.
Merely to show up? Well it’s a start when you’re picking up nearly £1,000 a week from the public purse. But then isn’t politics rather meeting-heavy, probably overly so.
Do our politicians consistently deliver around the committee table? One of the problems is we never get to know.
We only see them on social media, in the media, or in the theatre of the States meeting.
Finding committee presidents willingly supporting a non-attendee and saying they can make ample contribution outside the committee room backs up the individual, but surely at the cost of the process? For if our representatives can do the job without being in the room, is it the meeting that’s the problem, valueless even?
There are plenty of time-served politicians who think that a 50% attendance record just doesn’t cut it, when the average turnout so far this term is 90%. But surely neither does 100% if the contribution isn’t forthcoming, or hapless. This issue might well force a rethink of what we expect from our elected representatives in the future.
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