Re-instatement of Senators (P.2/2025): amendment

STATES OF JERSEY

RE-INSTATEMENT OF SENATORS

(P.2/2025): AMENDMENT

Lodged au Greffe on 4th March 2025 by Deputy T.A. Coles of St. Helier South Earliest date for debate: 18th March 2025

STATES GREFFE

2025  P.2 Amd.

RE-INSTATEMENT OF SENATORS (P.2/2025): AMENDMENT

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1  PAGE 2, PARAGRAPH (a) –

For  the  word  "offices"  substitute  the  word  "office"  and  delete  the  words " Connétable and".

2  PAGE 2, PARAGRAPH (a) –

For the words "one Deputy from each of the nine electoral constituencies", substitute the words, "the role of the Connétable s as Voting Members".

3  PAGE 2, PARAGRAPH (a) –

For the word "nine" substitute the word "twelve".

DEPUTY T.A. COLES OF ST. HELIER SOUTH

Note:  After this amendment, the proposition would read as follows –

THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion

1. that the office of Senator, elected on an Island-wide basis, should sit alongside the office of Deputy in the States Assembly, and should be reinstated by removing the role of the Connétable s as Voting Members and substituting twelve Senators in their place; and
2. to  request  the  Privileges  and  Procedures  Committee  to  bring forward the necessary legislative amendments to give effect to this proposition in time for the General Election in 2026.

REPORT

Summary

This amendment, if adopted, would allow the electoral system to be reformed to introduce a form of Island-wide voting without compromising on voter equity or simplicity.

It would remove the position of Connétable from the Assembly, allowing them to either focus purely on their parochial duties or seek election to the States via election to another office. Instead, their twelve seats in the Assembly would be allocated to Senators.

Report

Deputy Millar 's report makes several valid arguments in favour of the concept of Island- wide voting. However, her proposed way of introducing it will create a more complex voting system with worse voter equity than the current system. It is also very similar to the  1948-2022  electoral  system,  which  was  widely  unpopular.  This  amendment proposes a way to satisfy the arguments in favour of Island-wide voting, whilst moving our system forwards instead of backwards.

Voter Equity

Deputy Millar 's original proposition highlights that the role of Senator was the most equitable elected office held in Jersey's history. This is correct, because every voter has the same number of votes, and every candidate has the same number of electorates. However, the overall balance of voter equity would be made worse by her choice to propose re-introducing Senators by removing a Deputy from each electoral district (see appendix 1).

In our current composition, and possible composition if P.2 is adopted unamended, the least equitable position of Connétable would remain. The evidence of this is shown when we compare St Helier, having the largest population of approx. 35,822, and St Mary, having the smallest of approx. 1,818, both having only 1 elected representative.

If we take a look at the table, set out in appendix 2, each Connétable would need to represent a population of 8,606, based on the 2021 census, for everything to be equal. As this would not be possible, within the confines of each Parish, the Connétable s will never have an equal mandate.

It is not intellectually consistent to argue for re-introducing Senators on the basis that their election is most democratic, whilst proposing keeping the least democratic part of the electoral system, and in fact exacerbating it by removing nine Deputies whose seats had originally been apportioned to try to mitigate the malapportionment created by the presence of the Connétable s.

Complexity

A three-tier voting system is axiomatically more complicated than a two-tier system.  As Jersey already suffers from extremely low voter turnout, making the voting system more complicated is counterintuitive. In the absence of moving to a logical one-tier system, not making things worse by staying with a two-tier system is sensible.

A two-tier system will be easier for voters (especially first-time voters) to engage with and understand. The less time that needs to be spent getting to grips with how a voting system works, the more time is available to consider the political issues that Islanders are actually interested in. Divisive and consequential political issues are more likely to inspire interest than bland and soulless explanations on how a system works.

Voter choice and influence

One reason some voters have reported nostalgia for the Senators is that they liked the ability to cast a larger number of votes than they do now (despite those votes carrying less weight than they do in a smaller constituency).

P.2 unamended would give voters between 12 to 14 votes. If this amendment is adopted, they will have between 15 and 17 votes. Voters will therefore be able to express a preference over a greater proportion of States Members and claim a greater influence in the make-up of the government.

Conclusion

To achieve Deputy Millar 's objective, of returning the Senators to our Assembly, while maintaining or improving voter equity, the most logical option is to increase the number of Senators to 12 by replacing the Connétable s.

Financial and staffing implications

There should be no additional financial and staffing implications than proposed within Deputy Millar original proposition. As the Connétable s would no longer be an elected member of the Assembly, they would no longer be renumerated from the Assembly's budget.

If Connétable s are to be renumerated for the position within the Parish, this would be a matter for each Parish to consider.

Children's Rights Impact Assessment

A Children's Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA) has been prepared in relation to this proposition and is available to read on the States Assembly website.

Positive percentage =  Plus 9  Plus 12 Overrepresentation  Senators    Senators    Negative percentage =  

Underrepresentation

Appendix 1.

Sources: https://opendata.gov.je/dataset/2021-census/resource/8b9b106e-6bf6-400f-8a0b- a413204051e3

https://statesassembly.je/vote-detail?id=14576