Member's Blogs

As 2022 draws to a close I have noticed several political commentators saying that this was the year political parties failed in Jersey. Most will caveat that by adding ‘new’ or ‘except for Reform’. Having to include that must irk some of those writers. Some might wonder how it was possible in a conservative island for the centre-left party to come out of a general election in so much better shape than all the other parties. Of course, many will brush that off as party politics not being the way we do things here, but whether they like it or not, Reform Jersey has proved otherwise, and we are here to stay. Here are some of my reflections about why we succeeded when others failed.

Jersey has a unique democracy. Elected members can bring propositions and amendments to change legislation, law and government policy. They must then be debated 6 weeks later. Well that’s the theory.

Jersey’s biggest political party has brought forward a comprehensive ‘Housing Crisis Action Plan’, to be debated by the States Assembly as an amendment to the government’s proposed ‘Common Strategic Policy’.