Well, last night in Guernsey saw one of the more interesting and unpredictable elections we've had in a long time. No political parties, 78 candidates vieing for 45 seats in 7 parishes in the States of Deliberation, Guernsey's political assembly.
Of the 45 previous deputies who had been in the States, 10 decided not to run again, so we were guaranteed 10 new deputies. We got 22. Almost half the seats went to new deputies. And there were some high profile casualties including the Deputy Chief Minister and the Father of the House.
The fact that 6 of the 7 top polling candidates in this election were new deputies, also adds to the perception that the people of Guernsey, voted for change.
In fact, since the 2004 States, only 13 of those deputies remain. Such radical voting patterns have not been seen before. It's leaving even seasoned political observers somewhat surprised and baffled.
Even the current Chief Minister, Lynden Trott, came close to losing his seat in the parish of St Sampson, as he came 6th out of the 11 candidates in the 6 seat parish, beating Jane Stephens by just 73 votes.
Can he claim a mandate to remain as Chief Minister? You might think so when you consider the fact the Deputy Chief Minister did not retain his seat. But coming in as the final elected deputy in St Sampson in 6th place? Hardly a ringing endorsement from the voters.
May 1st is when we will find out who will become Chief Minister in the new States of Deliberation. And there are two recounts happening Friday.
In the parish of Vale, the margin between success and failure was 42 votes, and the losing candidate there, James Symons, has asked for and been granted a recount. But in St Peter Port North, the margin there between success and failure was just 3 votes. Rhoderick Matthews could be the beneficiary there challenging Lester Queripel, although I imagine that Elis Bebb, who is just 7 votes ahead of Queripel, will also be watching with interest.
Hopefully we'll find out the results of the recount Friday afternoon.
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