Race to become next chief minister begins

The race to become Guernsey's top politician is under way, with deputies announcing their intention to run.

Former chief minister Jonathan Le Tocq has said he would be willing to run for president of the Policy and Resources Committee (P&R) "to offer a degree of stability".

Several candidates told the BBC they backed Le Tocq because of his experience in the role and ability to "bring people together".

Deputy Mark Helyar said before the election campaign he would seek the top job, with the aim of controlling States spending, while Deputy Charles Parkinson confirmed he would make a tilt to advocate for a change to the island's corporate tax policy.

Le Tocq said: "The culture needs to change right at the beginning of this term, I think I will do my best to try and work a coalition together of all types of people."

Helyar became the vice-president of P&R in November 2022 after Deputy Heidi Soulsby resigned from the role.

He resigned ahead of a successful vote of no confidence in the committee in 2023.

While expressing an intention to run before the election, Helyar did not answer when asked by the BBC on Friday whether he was still planning to stand.

The vote of no confidence in P&R was led by Deputy Charles Parkinson, who finished third in the polls with 9,294 votes and said he felt he had a mandate to stand for for P&R president.

Last year the States agreed a package of tax reforms including a 5% GST, a lower rate of income tax for earnings under £30,000 and reforms to social security contributions.

Whether elected to P&R or not, Parkinson has said he would look to challenge the policy and attempt to get more money from local companies through reform to the coporate tax regime.

Outgoing chief minister Lyndon Trott warned against changing the island's zero-10 regime, which means some companies pay no corporation tax and others pay 10%.

Deputy Lindsay de Sausmarez topped the polls with more than 10,000 votes, but she has not commented on whether she would stand for P&R president.

Deputy Yvonne Burford, who came second in the polls, has said she wanted to be on P&R, but not as its president.

Among the other possible contenders, 2020 poll-topper Deputy Gavin St Pier stood for P&R president, but lost out to Deputy Peter Ferbrache in 2020.

Forward Guernsey leader St Pier has already done the job between 2016 and 2020, but has not said whether he would seek it again, leaving the door open.

After a short time on the Health and Social Care Committee (HSC) previously, some deputies the BBC has spoken suggested may seek a role as its president.

There has also been interest in that position from its vice-president Marc Leadbeater and deputy-elect Dr George Oswald.

Follow BBC Guernsey on X and Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].