Electoral Reform Jersey: Which Parish?

Dear Reader,

You will hopefully be aware that the Jersey Electoral Commission has recently published its findings. I will give a detailed analysis of these in the next few days, but in the meantime, I am publishing a list (below) of the forthcoming public meetings, which start next week in each of the Parishes.

For Parishioners of St Brelade, the first meeting will be held this coming Tuesday at the Parish Hall. I had emailed the Commission asking them to hold it at Communicare, as this is more accessible for parking, would hold more people, and is in walking distance for most residents. However, they could not accommodate this wish.

For constituents of mine who live in St Brelade, and who may not have transport, please do not hesitate to contact me and I will arrange a lift. I have organised a minibus leaving from Communicare at 6:15, 6:30 and 6:45pm for residents of the area who may wish to attend.

For those of you who wish to be involved in  the campaign for positive, democratic reform, you may wish to join Reform Jersey. It's three simple principles for democratic reform have already been taken on board by the Commission, which goes to show what a good, positive campaign and lobbying can do.

For your information, the three basic principles are that:

Each States Member should represent the same number of people.

Each voter should have the same number of votes.

The system must be simple and user friendly.

Now, without further ado, here is the schedule for the meetings -

Date	Location	Time
Tuesday 6th November	St Brelade’s Parish Hall	7 pm
	St John’s Parish Hall	7 pm
Wednesday 7th November	St Helier Town Hall	7 pm
	Trinity Parish Hall	7 pm
Thursday 8th November	St Martin’s Public Hall	7 pm
	St Clement’s Parish Hall	7 pm
Tuesday 13th November	St Ouen’s Parish Hall	7 pm
	St Peter’s Parish Hall	7 pm
Wednesday 14th November	Grouville Parish Hall	7 pm
	St Mary’s Parish Hall	7 pm
Thursday 15th November	St Saviour’s Parish Hall	7 pm
	St Lawrence Parish Hall	7 pm

Jackson jacks-in opposition to Black Headstone

Mr Michel's battle with the parish to have a black headstone for his wife's grave has been won. Yesterday the Constable announced that the St Brelade Cemetery Committee, who met for the first time in 5 years, would be willing to change to regulations to permit the stone to be erected. In an email to the Parish deputies and Senator Ferguson, Constable Jackson wrote:

'The cemetery committee decided yesterday to agree to submitting a revised regulation to a Parish Assembly to permit black natural stone in the cemetery.'

The news came as a relief to Mr Michel, who has been fighting for this for over a year now. 

The decision to change the regulation was predictable, in the face of such strong public support for Mr Michel's cause. Two questions remain, however, (i) why did it take so long for Mr Jackson to change his mind; and (ii) what damage has this done to the Constable's credibility in an election year? 

These questions will be addressed in the next blog, with exclusive video footage from the Communicare meeting.