New campaign to increase the diversity of election candidates
8 March 2021
With Jersey’s next General Election just 15 months away, a campaign has been launched to encourage a more diverse range of candidates to consider standing for election in 2022.
Initiated by the Diversity Forum, a group of States Members, Chaired by Deputy Louise Doublet, the aim of the campaign is to ensure that all Islanders recognise that the opportunity to represent the views of their community, by standing for election, is available to them. Striving to generate interest from Islanders of different ages; ethnicities; disabilities; genders; sexualities; socioeconomic backgrounds and professions, the key message is that ‘YOU could be the next States Member’.
To help Islanders who are interested in the possibility of standing for election, a programme of support is being developed to provide information, training, and connection with both current States Members and formers candidates about the process and experiences of being in public office.
As part of the campaign, the Diversity Forum is developing a toolkit for partner organisations who are in regular contact with specific demographic groups to help them reach as many Islanders as possible. This is freely available for any organisation to use.
To find out more, Islanders are encouraged to visit Vote.je where they can register for updates about when new resources, training and information is available. In particular, the practicalities of the new voter districts and change in roles, agreed by the States Assembly in 2020, being brought into Law will have specific implications for candidates.
Deputy Louise Doublet, Chair of the Diversity Forum, said “I’m delighted to be launching this important campaign today, on International Women’s Day. Gender is, of course, just one aspect of diversity but is a clear example of where the current makeup of the States Assembly doesn’t reflect the makeup of the Island.
“We know from extensive research in the field that communities are most likely to engage in local politics when they feel their views and experiences are represented by their elected representatives. It’s therefore essential that we ensure that Jersey’s whole community is aware of how they can get involved and has access to the information and support to help them on their journey to standing for election."
