Reform Jersey to support ‘Vote of No Confidence’ in the Chief Minister

Following recent events surrounding the Chief Executive Officer of the Government of Jersey taking on a non-executive directorship for a UK-based real estate company, and the failure of the Chief Minister to show adequate leadership, Reform Jersey’s elected States Members will be supporting the Vote of No Confidence on Tuesday.

Senator Sam Mézec and Deputy Montfort Tadier have formally resigned their roles as Minister for Children and Housing, and Assistant Minister for Economic Development, respectively.

Party Leader Senator Sam Mézec said “Reform Jersey members have played a constructive role since the last election, both in and out of government, to implement our manifesto pledges, and we are proud of our record. We have spoken out in recent months about our concerns that the government has been failing on its commitment to ‘Reduce Income Inequality’ and that there is an undemocratic culture in parts of the civil service which sees elected members obstructed when trying to carry out their policies.”

“Last week, I, alongside other ministers, made clear our view that the CEO should not also hold a non-executive directorship with a private sector company. A week has gone by, and this decision has been treated with contempt. If the Council of Ministers was in charge of the island, this decision would have been implemented by now, but it has not. The Chief Minister exercised poor judgement in allowing this in the first place, and by allowing the States Employment Board to give retrospective permission for this appointment, he has tied our hands and left us in an untenable position.”

Deputy Montfort Tadier said “We do not take this decision lightly, but it has come to the point where we can no longer support this Chief Minister with a clear conscience. He has been weak or absent on key policies such as the landlords register, electoral reform, and reducing income inequality. This latest development is the final straw.”