Names of Proposers and Seconders
- Joanne Patterson
- Elizabeth Mary Grihault
- Alan Wilson Still
- Christopher Maynard
- Donna L. Binet
- Michael Rondel
- Richard Sowerby Courtenay
- Nia Perry
- Marguerite Rouault
- William Stuart Main Gillies
I’m standing for election in St Mary as I think the parish needs a Connétable who will do his level best to look after the parish and its residents in every aspect of life – work, rest, and play. I’ve thrown myself into parish life since moving here with my family 14 years ago. I’ve invested a lot of time and energy in volunteering to support a wide range of community initiatives. I edit our parish magazine, St Mary Matters, and before that its predecessor, The Communiqué. I head up the team that runs the Youth and Community Centre which has never been so busy supporting a variety of clubs, social events and other activities. I led the committee which organised the parish’s Liberation 70 celebrations – our last really big community event; and I also help run one of the parish’s few remaining sporting organisations, the St Mary Pétanque Club.
Now, particularly post-Covid, I think the people of St Mary are ready to return to that sense of community we all used to enjoy: the events, the activities, the gatherings that all contribute to a better quality of life. I see the key role of Constable as helping to make that happen, by bringing parishioners together and making the most of their skills and enthusiasm for the good of the wider community.
I was first introduced to Jersey while working as local government correspondent for the BBC in Plymouth covering a variety of stories from the Channel Islands. Throughout my journalistic career I have worked in newspapers, radio and television, primarily for the BBC, culminating in senior roles as news editor, crime correspondent and political correspondent.
We moved here in 2008 as my wife is from Jersey, and we have lived in St Mary ever since. Our two children went to St Mary’s School and attended Cubs and St Mary’s Youth Club in our community centre. I’m often to be seen walking the lanes of the parish with our dog, Lola, or running for exercise with my wife. The parish has been good to us as a family and I’m keen to return the favour.
The States Assembly’s decision to change constituency boundaries has made the position of the Connétable even more important – as St Mary has lost its dedicated Deputy in the restructure. Attending States Assembly sittings is part of the role of Connétable, and I am keen to represent parishioners’ interests in debates on important matters like population, housing, education and health, all of which have an enormous impact on our lives. But if I am elected, I intend to spend as much time as possible in the parish office, making myself available to help as best I can to help with the needs and aspirations of parishioners. My main focus would be, quite simply, to reconnect the parish with the parishioners – and the parishioners with each other.