The 2022 Jersey general election was held on 22 June 2022 to elect connétables and deputies to the States Assembly. As in previous elections, the majority of seats were won by independents. The governing Jersey Alliance party suffered a heavy defeat, losing all but one of its seats. Following the election, a coalition government led by Better Way Deputy Kristina Moore was formed.
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All 49 seats in the States Assembly 25 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Registered | 60,678[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 41.6% ( 1.8 pp)[1][a] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 A map presenting the results of the election, with each dot representing one seat in the States Assembly. The top map shows the results for connétables, whilst the bottom shows results for deputies. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Independent politicians won 32 of the 49 seats in the Assembly. Reform Jersey won 10 seats, primarily in the new St Helier constituencies, the largest win in the party's history. Whilst Jersey Alliance won a sizable share of the popular vote, it only won a single seat; almost all of its members in the Assembly were voted out, most notably the incumbent Chief Minister John Le Fondré. The newly founded Jersey Liberal Conservatives and Progress Party, comprising the JLC–Progress coalition, received 2 and 1 seats respectively.
Despite widespread electoral reforms made in 2021 intended to improve civic engagement, turnout decreased from the previous election to 41.6%. Following the election, Jersey Alliance's single member in the Assembly resigned from the party after only a month, leaving it with no representation in the States Assembly. The Progress Party disbanded a year later in July 2023.
Timeline
edit| Date | Event(s) | |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday 22 April 2021 | The States Assembly approves a proposition setting 22 June 2022 as the date for the next general election. The proposition also included widespread electoral reforms for the 2022 election, including abolishing the position of senator and creating new electoral constituencies for deputies. | |
| Friday 29 April 2022 | Final business meeting of the 2018–2022 Assembly. | |
| Monday 9 May 2022 | Final meeting of the 2018–2022 Assembly to ceremonially mark Liberation Day. | |
| Tuesday 10 May 2022 | Deadline for registration on the main voter register and registration for a postal vote at 12pm. | |
| Wednesday 11 May 2022 | Opening of nominations of candidates. Beginning of election period (purdah). | |
| Friday 13 May 2022 | Closing of nominations of candidates. | |
| Wednesday 18 May 2022 | Announcement of candidates. | |
| Monday 13 June 2022 | Pre-poll voting open for voters on the main voter register. | |
| Tuesday 14 June 2022 | ||
| Wednesday 15 June 2022 | Deadline for registration on the supplementary voter register at 12pm. | |
| Thursday 16 June 2022 | ||
| Friday 17 June 2022 | ||
| Wednesday 22 June 2022 | Polling day – polls open from 8am to 8pm. | |
| Thursday 23 June 2022 | Results announced for all 21 parishes and constituencies. | |
| Monday 27 June 2022 | Elected members officially sworn in to the States Assembly. Deadline for nominations for Chief Minister – candidates had until 5pm to receive at least six nominations to be included on the ballot. | |
| Thursday 30 June 2022 | First meeting of the new States Assembly to ceremonially mark the retirement of the Lieutenant Governor. | |
| Tuesday 5 July 2022 | The new States Assembly met for the election of the new chief minister. | |
| Monday 11 July 2022 | Chief minister-designate's nominations for other ministerial positions confirmed by the Assembly. Chief minister formally appointed to office. | |
| Tuesday 12 July 2022 | End of election period (purdah). States members appointed to scrutiny panels and committees. | |
| Tuesday 19 July 2022 | States members appointed to remaining scrutiny panels and committees. | |
Electoral system
editThe 2022 elections are the first to have been held under a new electoral system. Under the system, the role of Senators is abolished and replaced with 37 Deputies elected across 9 districts via plurality block voting. The election of one Connétable from each of the twelve parishes is maintained.[2][3]
This election has seen the debut of many new political parties to a political landscape that has been traditionally dominated by independent candidates. Before the election the newly formed centre-right Jersey Alliance, which included the previous Chief Minister John Le Fondré, had led the previous Government of Jersey. The centre-right Liberal Conservatives and the centrist Progress Party entered into a political pact with one other for the election.[4] The existing social-democratic Reform Jersey party will also contest the election, and a group of independent candidates will stand with a shared platform and agreed principles under the name of ‘Better Way’, including Chief Scrutineer and Senator Kristina Moore.[5]
For the 2022 elections, the Constable of St. Martin brought forward an amendment to include "the choice of ‘None of the Above’ to be automatically included as a ballot option in any States Assembly election where the number of candidates in a District or Parish does not exceed the number of seats available, with an appropriate formal consequence being provided should this ballot option achieve a plurality of the votes cast."[6] The change was subsequently approved by the States Assembly.[7]
Political parties and groups
editThe table below lists the parties or groups that nominated at least one candidate for the election:
| Name | Ideology | Leader | 2018 result | Pre-election seats | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seats | |||||||
| RJ | Reform Jersey | Social democracy | Sam Mézec | 5 / 49
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5 / 49 [d]
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| JA | Jersey Alliance | Conservative liberalism | Mark Boleat | — | 9 / 49
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| PP | Progress Party[e] | Centrism | Steve Pallett | — | 2 / 49
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| JLC | Jersey Liberal Conservatives[f] | Liberal conservatism | Philip Bailhache | — | 0 / 49
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| BW | Better Way[b] | Consensus government | Kristina Moore | — | 1 / 49
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| Ind | Independents | — | — | 44 / 49
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33 / 49
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Notes
editAs the electorate can vote for more than one candidate, including voting for multiple candidates of differing political parties, the vote total is not indicative of the popular vote share of each party but rather the total number of votes each candidate received.
The 'Better Way' group ran as independents and are not a registered political party nor stood as a political party. Their candidates received 8,016 votes and 4 out of 5 of their candidates were elected.
Results
editBy constituency
editBy party
edit| Party | Leader | Seats | Votes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Of total | Of total | |||||||
| Reform Jersey | Sam Mézec | 10 | 20.4% | 10 / 49
|
12,751 | 12.3% | ||
| Better Way[b] | Kristina Moore | 4 | 8.2% | 4 / 49
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8,016 | 7.7% | ||
| Jersey Liberal Conservatives | Philip Bailhache | 2 | 4.1% | 2 / 49
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4,259 | 4.1% | ||
| Jersey Alliance | Mark Boleat | 1 | 2.0% | 1 / 49
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9,479 | 9.1% | ||
| Progress Party | Steve Pallett | 1 | 2.0% | 1 / 49
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4,376 | 4.2% | ||
| Independents | — | 32 | 65.3% | 32 / 49
|
61,051 | 58.9% | ||
List of elected members
editConnétables
edit| Parish | Name | Party | Majority | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grouville | Mark Labey | Independent | 72 | |
| St Brelade | Mike Jackson | Independent | 1,451 | |
| St Clement | Marcus Troy | Independent | 1,748 | |
| St Helier | Simon Crowcroft | Independent | 944 | |
| St John | Andy Jehan | Independent | 1,036 | |
| St Lawrence | Deidre Mezbourian | Independent | 301 | |
| St Martin | Karen Shenton-Stone | Independent | 1,057 | |
| St Mary | David Johnson | Independent | 83 | |
| St Ouen | Richard Honeycombe | Independent | 512 | |
| St Peter | Richard Vibert | Independent | 872 | |
| St Saviour | Kevin Lewis | Independent | 396 | |
| Trinity | Philip Le Sueur | Jersey Alliance | 441 | |
| Source:[8] | ||||
Deputies
editAftermath
editGovernment formation
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The elected States members were officially sworn into office on 27 June. In order to be included in the vote for Chief Minister, candidates needed to receive nominations from six other States members by 5pm that day.[9] Only three candidates put their names forward; Kristina Moore, (leader of Better Way), Sam Mézec (leader of Reform Jersey), and Philip Bailhache (leader of the Jersey Liberal Conservatives). Mark Boleat, leader of Jersey Alliance, had announced his intention to run for Chief Minister prior to the election, but lost his seat.[10] Moore received 30 nominations, greater than the 25 votes needed to win the vote, immediately making her the clear frontrunner. Mézec received 9 nominations, clearing the threshold to be included on the ballot. Bailhache failed to receive enough nominations to be included, and withdrew from the race.[10]
The new States Assembly held its first meeting on 5 July to choose the new Chief Minister. Moore won the vote 39–10, becoming the first woman to hold the office.[11] Moore selected a mix of independent, Better Way, and JLC States members as her nominations for her Council of Ministers.[12] The States Assembly confirmed her nominations on 11 July, creating the Moore ministry.[13]
Collapse of parties
editIn July 2022, Jersey Alliance's sole elected States member, Philip Le Sueur, resigned from the party due to its poor electoral performance.[14]
A year later in July 2023, the Progress Party disbanded, also citing disappointing performance in the 2022 election.[15]
Notes
edit- ^ Based on results for deputies.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Better Way is a group of independent politicians who pledge to work together, and is not registered as a political party.
- ^ Not including Better Way.
- ^ Trevor Pointon announced that he would stand for election as a Reform Jersey candidate, though continued to stand in the States Assembly as an independent until the election.
- ^ In an electoral pact with the Liberal Conservatives
- ^ In an electoral pact with the Progress Party
References
edit- ^ a b Stolte, Jake (3 August 2022). "Voter turnout lower than in 2018 election". Jersey Evening Post. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
- ^ Morris, Michael. "Electoral reforms approved after decades of debate". jerseyeveningpost.com. Retrieved 2021-04-22.
- ^ "Senator role disappears in major reform of States Assembly electoral system". ITV Channel Television. 2020-12-04. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
- ^ Express, Bailiwick. ""And I agree with Steve..." Progress Party and JLC form coalition". Bailiwick Express. Retrieved 2022-06-28.
- ^ "New 'Better Way' political coalition is formed". Jersey Evening Post. 2022-03-21. Retrieved 2022-05-10.
- ^ "COMPOSITION AND ELECTION OF THE STATES: PROPOSED CHANGES(P.139/2020) – THIRD AMENDMENT" (PDF). States Assembly. 2020-11-12.
- ^ "Islanders to be able to vote for 'none of the above'". www.bailiwickexpress.com/. 2021-07-21. Retrieved 2021-07-21.
- ^ a b "'22 Election Results". vote.je. States Greffe. 10 August 2022. Archived from the original on 2 June 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
- ^ "Two States Members stand for Chief Minister". States Assembly. States Greffe. 27 June 2022. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
- ^ a b "Mézec Or Moore For Chief Minister". Channel 103. 27 June 2022. Archived from the original on 12 July 2022. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
- ^ "Kristina Moore to become Jersey's first female Chief Minister". ITV News. 5 July 2022. Archived from the original on 28 November 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
- ^ "Assistant Ministers are appointed". gov.je. Government of Jersey. 15 July 2022. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
- ^ "Jersey chief minister and cabinet sworn into office". BBC News. 11 July 2022. Archived from the original on 31 May 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
- ^ "Jersey Alliance yet to decide future as sole elected Member quits". Jersey Evening Post. 19 July 2022. Archived from the original on 29 July 2022. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
- ^ Heath, Richard (9 July 2023). "Party disbands a year after disappointing election night". Jersey Evening Post. Archived from the original on 13 July 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2023.