‘Campaigning doesn’t need to cost a lot‘

During the run-up to the 2020 election, candidates were allowed to spend up to £6,000, but deputies elected four years ago recently agreed to reduce the limit to £3,000 for next year’s general election.

Earlier this year, they scrapped the £500 grant to candidates, which previously reimbursed candidates’ spending.

Unsuccessful 2020 candidate Catherine Hall – who finished in 41st position – said she was unable to remember exactly how much she had spent campaigning last time but it was not much more than £500.

‘It was definitely less than £3,000,’ she said.

‘I suppose if I had been able to spend more I might have been able to reach more people but equally due to my health at the time I was unable to do much door-knocking either.

‘I’m not sure how effective door-knocking is in an island-wide election but I think it would have helped if I had done so in my own parish.’

Mrs Hall said she felt she had benefitted from attending speed hustings events and a series of more traditional hustings organised by a deputy who was standing down.

She was unavailable to make a video on the day filming took place but did try to respond to all emails and comments on her election Facebook page.

She was also known to many people after working for years in autism and disability charities.

‘It’s difficult to know how much my personal profile and reputation influenced votes and how much new people voted based on my campaigning,’ she said.

Fergus Dunlop finished 39th in the poll, missing out on a seat by just 127 votes.

‘Guernsey democracy doesn’t require people to spend a lot of money,’ he said.

He had not supported island-wide voting and believed the new electoral system made it easier for candidates to sway a large number of voters by spending money on big campaigns.

‘It means we’ve moved away from face-to-face and word-of-mouth,’ he said.

He was pleased that the States Assembly & Constitution Committee failed last week with a proposal to set the spending limit at £7,500.

Women in Public Life has campaigned to encourage more women to put themselves forwards as candidates and chairwoman Shelaine Green said that the new reduced spending limit of £3,000 still represented a lot of money.

‘70% of the successful candidates spent less than that at the last election,’ she said.

‘Yes, you won’t be able to mail the whole island, but you can’t door-knock the whole electorate anymore either.’

She felt that island-wide voting required candidates to be more strategic about which voters they targeted and how they went about campaigning.

A high spending limit would be a concern to Women in Public Life because it could deter women on lower incomes from standing for election.

‘That’s also why we were disappointed by the withdrawal of the £500 grant,’ she said.