02-07-2025
Guernsey's Chief Minister consolidates power as top committee are elected unopposed
Following her historic election as Guernsey's first female Chief Minister, Deputy Lindsay de Sausmarez has received another strong mandate from the States Assembly, as all four of her preferred candidates were elected onto the island's most powerful political committee.
In a States' meeting that lasted just under an hour, de Sausmarez took her seat on the top bench and no speeches were needed as members did not challenge her nominations for Policy and Resources (P&R).
It means Deputies Gavin St Pier, Charles Parkinson, Steve Falla, and Jonathan Le Tocq will join the top table.
St Pier is a previous president of P&R and topped the poll in the 2020 General Election, he also backed de Sausmarez in Tuesday's vote for Chief Minister.
Parkinson withdrew from that battle for the top job and says it seems to be a more cohesive start to the States after the last political term, which saw deputies often divided.
He explains: "I think the States have indicated they want to move forward in a consensus style, given we were all elected unopposed.
"I have a lot of experience to bring to P&R, so I will seek to help everywhere I can.
"People think of me as a fiscal policy specialist, but actually my interests are very wide."
Le Tocq is expected to continue in his role as Lead Member for External Relations - a job he has held for the past five years.
Meanwhile, Falla, who was the fourth most popular candidate in last month's election, is in his second term as a deputy.
All of de Sausmarez's nominations were seconded by Deputy Mark Helyar, who she defeated in the P&R presidency vote on Tuesday.
Guernsey's Policy and Resources Committee:
Lindsay de Sausmarez (President)
Gavin St Pier
Charles Parkinson
Jonathan Le Tocq
Steve Falla
Their briefs, including who will serve as de Sausmarez's Vice President, have not yet been announced.
Deputy Neil Inder lodged an amendment to allow politicians to question each of the candidates as part of a hustings.
However, the motion failed, only receiving the backing of 11 deputies.
Speaking after the States Meeting ended, Inder said: "We've effectively had a coronation today. We've had one member proposing all four. There were no speeches and no questions or answers.
"At the moment, we are in a sort of love-in period where everything's fantastic.
"We will get into far more scrutiny once people actually understand that their job is to scrutinise."
If Tuesday was de Sausmarez's coronation, Wednesday saw the start of her consolidation of power.
All of her nominations are, in some ways, political allies. They are fairly progressive and big political figures on the island who have lots of experience.
They're also popular - each of them finished within the top ten of last month's election voting results.
Right now, the respect for de Sausmarez, as well as the authority she carries, seems to know few bounds.
However, there are contrasting views on some of the big policy areas within the new senior committee, especially fiscal policy which is the group's main mandate.
For example, Parkinson will no doubt want to use his position to push ahead with a review into corporation tax policy, whereas Le Tocq was an architect of the GST+ package.
So, it's not just in the Assembly where De Sausmarez's 'unity' status will be tested, but in the island's top political committee which she now leads.
The P&R members can also no longer put themselves forward for other committee positions, so all eyes will be on the committee presidency elections, which will take place on Friday (4 July).
There will be 13 to decide, including the newly formed Housing Committee, with many expected to be fiercely contested.
The remaining members of each of these committees will then be decided on Monday 7 July.
