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STATES OF JERSEY
REFERENDUM COMMISSION: APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS
Presented to the States on 27th February 2025 by the Privileges and Procedures Committee
STATES GREFFE
2025 R.28
2
REPORT
This report has been presented to advise the States Assembly of the intention of the Privileges and Procedures Committee (PPC) to appoint 2 members of the Referendum Commission.
The principal functions of the Referendum Commission (in accordance with the Referendum (Jersey) Law 2017) are to consider the wording of any proposed referendum question to be considered by the Assembly; and to designate the lead campaign groups for a referendum that is taking place.
PPC intends to appoint the following persons as members of the Commission for a term of 5 years –
Advocate Ralph Spencer-Tucker Ms. Jennifer Bridge MBE
Brief biographical details for each appointee have been included at the end of this report. Under the terms of the Law, the Committee is obliged to present to the Assembly a notice of its intention to appoint at least 2 weeks before the appointments take formal effect.
Under the provisions of the Law, the Committee must not appoint a person to the Commission unless that person has been recommended to the Committee by a Panel comprising the Greffier of the States and 2 other persons. In this instance, the recruitment panel comprised the Deputy Greffier of the States (acting on behalf of the Greffier of the States), the Judicial Greffier and the Chief Executive of the UK's Local Government Boundary Commission (formerly the Director of Electoral Administration and Guidance at the UK's Electoral Commission).
A recruitment exercise for new members of the Commission was initiated in November 2024 with interviews held in December 2024. 6 people expressed an interest (2 women, 4 men) and 4 people ultimately submitted an application (1 woman, 3 men). The recruitment panel agreed to see all 4 people at interview.
The Commission already comprises Advocate Mark Boothman (as Chair), Mr. Terry Le Sueur OBE and Mr. Christopher Dobbing. Under the Law, the Commission comprises a Chair and 4 other members and these 2 appointments will bring the Commission to full capacity. The quorum of the Commission is 3 members, however, and the performance of its functions has not been affected to date by the 2 vacancies in its membership that will now be filled.
Advocate Ralph Spencer-Tucker
Advocate Spencer-Tucker was educated in Jersey and is currently a Senior Associate in Dispute Resolution at Ogier, having worked there since 2019. He qualified as an Advocate in December 2023.
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Ms. Jennifer Bridge MBE
Ms. Bridge is currently a Non-Executive Director of the Co-Op and works part-time as a teacher. A qualified mediator, from 2020 to 2024, she was a member of the Employment and Discrimination Tribunal and served as Chair of the Jersey Literary Festival Association for almost 10 years until 2024. Jennifer served as an elected States Member from 1999 to 2005.
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