Past

Things I am most proud of…

First Day In Politics – on the very first day that I officially entered the States of Jersey, I became president of a committee.  I knew that I was about to be able to do some good, to make a difference and that I was starting as I meant to go on.

St Helier No 3 – when I ran for Deputy, I gained the most votes ever for St Helier No 3, which was an achievement I was very happy with in itself, but when I consider some of people who have run in that district before me, I feel honoured to have done so well.

Island-wide Voting – In 2005 I gained a strong show of island-wide support, as the number one candidate in 11 out of 12 parishes, and in 2008 when I reran, I retained a strong showing in my home parish of St Saviour where my father had run before me.  Popularity always wanes a bit after you have been in government, making tough decisions and under constant scrutiny, but the continued support from my home parish always encourages me, and spurs me on.

2 Tough Committees – I would describe myself as a reformer, and when I was faced with trying to change what was then considered two of the most toxic departments, Public Services and Planning, I did wonder if I had bitten off too much!  But I am very proud to say that they changes we made together transformed the way these areas were run significantly for the better.

To read more about some of my work and key achievements, click here.

Setting the record straight…

GST – in 2008 during my election campaign, I said, and I quote “I will robustly oppose any attempt to increase GST above 3%”.  I meant it.  I wrote it down in my manifesto. I assured colleagues and friends, and I partly campaigned on that basis.  Then the global credit crisis hit harder than any of could have imagined, and 3 years on from that statement, we were forced to consider how to increase revenue for Jersey.   I knew it could potentially cost me my political career to bring forward the proposal for the increase, and people who voted for me may not understand. But after all the research, advice, number crunching and assessments had been done, I was called to make the decision to propose a 2% increase, and the Council of Ministers and States Members agreed, voting in favour of the proposal. It was still the hardest moment of my political career, and a decision that I wish I had not had to make. It is some consolation to know that around the globe other less fortunate Treasury Ministers were faced with much tougher challenges, and that overall Jersey is in a good position.  To imagine we would have been entirely untouched by the global crisis though is unrealistic.

0/10 – When 0/10 was first introduced, the UK, who represents us in Europe, assured us it was compliant with the EU Code of Conduct.  We then introduced a personal tax provision for local residents called “Deemed Distribution”, and were assured that there were no foreseeable issues with it.  Then, again, the credit crisis hit and the political landscape throughout Europe and the UK changed dramatically.  Jersey went through endless amounts of scrutiny, always with a clean bill of health, and continued to meet the highest international standards.  Then in January 2011, the interaction of “Deemed Distribution” with 0/10, was found by the EU to give rise to harmful effects.  We looked at it, considered the options extensively, and decided that we could probably live with out the Deemed Distribution, even though really, we didn’t fee the EU should be dictating on matters of personal tax.

Some have questioned why 0/10 had to be introduced in the first place, given it would a deficit, but put quite simply, we were faced with the decision between long-term stability and competitiveness over short-term, resolvable financial pressure.  The misreporting, misleading statements issued by others, and commentary which overall has been confusing, and contributed to uncertainty in a time when we should have been focused on opportunity and recovery.

0/10 was, and still is, a very complicated issue, hard to explain and grasp.  The upshot of this whole process has been doubt over whether the Council of Ministers were telling the truth (we were), fodder for Jersey’s critics (which they use against us), and also people believing we had contradicted ourselves, (which we hadn’t). The whole situation has really brought home the need to communicate more, and better, something I am now striving to do.