Appointment of a new Chief Minister for Jersey
25th January 2024
The States Assembly met today, January 25 to vote for a new Chief Minister designate for Jersey.
There were three candidates:
Deputy Sam Mézec
Deputy Lyndon Farnham
Deputy Ian Gorst
After roll call and prayers, the Bailiff read out the nominations and drew lots to determine the order in which the candidates addressed the Assembly.
Each candidate spoke for up to ten minutes, followed by one hour of questions from members. While each candidate was being questioned, the other candidates withdrew from the Chamber and waited in an area where they could not hear the proceedings.
1. Deputy Ian Gorst spoke first.
Go to 10 minutes into this morning's recording to watch.
2. Deputy Lyndon Farnham spoke second.
Go to 1 hour 21 minutes into this morning's recording to watch.
3. Deputy Sam Mézec was the final candidate to speak.
Go to 2 hours 34 minutes into this morning's recording to watch.
Open Ballot
An open ballot was held, where Members wrote their own name and indicated their preferred candidate on pre-printed ballot papers.
A candidate who received more than half of the votes cast would be selected as Chief Minister designate. The results were as follows:
Deputy Ian Gorst received 21 votes
Deputy Lyndon Farnham received 17 votes
Deputy Sam Mézec received 10 votes
There was 1 abstention
As there were three candidates, and nobody received more than half of the votes, the candidate with the lowest number of votes withdrew from the contest. This was Deputy Mézec.
The votes cast in the first ballot were as follows:
| Deputy Gorst | Deputy Farnham | Deputy Mézec | Abstained |
1 | Connétable of St Lawrence | Connétable of St Helier | Deputy Southern | Deputy Wilson |
2 | Connétable of Grouville | Connétable of St Brelade | Deputy Tadier | |
3 | Connétable of St Mary | Connétable of Trinity | Deputy R. Ward | |
4 | Deputy Luce | Connétable of St Peter | Deputy Alves | |
5 | Deputy Doublet | Connétable of St Martin | Deputy Mézec | |
6 | Deputy Morel | Connétable of St John | Deputy C. Curtis | |
7 | Deputy Ahier | Connétable of St Clement | Deputy Feltham | |
8 | Deputy Gardiner | Connétable of St Ouen | Deputy Kovacs | |
9 | Deputy Gorst | Connétable of St Saviour | Deputy Coles | |
10 | Deputy Moore | Deputy Labey | Deputy Porée | |
11 | Deputy Ozouf | Deputy Le Hegarat | | |
12 | Deputy Bailhache | Deputy Farnham | | |
13 | Deputy Warr | Deputy Scott | | |
14 | Deputy Miles | Deputy R. Binet | | |
15 | Deputy Renouf | Deputy Howell | | |
16 | Deputy Jeune | Deputy T. Binet | | |
17 | Deputy Millar | Deputy B. Ward | | |
18 | Deputy Ferey | | | |
19 | Deputy A Curtis | | | |
20 | Deputy Stephenson | | | |
21 | Deputy Andrews | | |
|
Go to 3 hours 46 minutes into this morning's recording to watch. The results are 4 hours into this recording.
A new ballot then commenced with the two remaining candidates, using the electronic voting system. The results were as follows:
Deputy Ian Gorst received 22 votes
Deputy Lyndon Farnham received 27 votes
Deputy Lyndon Farnham was duly chosen as Chief Minister designate.
| Deputy Gorst | Deputy Farnham |
1 | Connétable of St Lawrence | Connétable of St Helier |
2 | Connétable of Grouville | Connétable of St Brelade |
3 | Connétable of St Mary | Connétable of Trinity |
4 | Deputy Luce | Connétable of St Peter |
5 | Deputy Doublet | Connétable of St Martin |
6 | Deputy Morel | Connétable of St John |
7 | Deputy Ahier | Connétable of St Clement |
8 | Deputy Gardiner | Connétable of St Ouen |
9 | Deputy Gorst | Connétable of St Saviour |
10 | Deputy Moore | Deputy Southern |
11 | Deputy Ozouf | Deputy Labey |
12 | Deputy Bailhache | Deputy Tadier |
13 | Deputy Warr | Deputy Le Hegarat |
14 | Deputy Miles | Deputy R. Ward |
15 | Deputy Renouf | Deputy Alves |
16 | Deputy Jeune | Deputy Farnham |
17 | Deputy Millar | Deputy Mézec |
18 | Deputy Ferey | Deputy Coles |
19 | Deputy A Curtis | Deputy Porée |
20 | Deputy Stephenson | Deputy Scott |
21 | Deputy Andrews | Deputy C. Curtis |
22 | Deputy Wilson | Deputy Feltham |
23 | | Deputy R. Binet |
24 | | Deputy Howell |
25 | | Deputy T. Binet |
26 | | Deputy Kovacs |
27 | | Deputy B. Ward |
Adjournment
The States Assembly then adjourned and will reconvene at 9:30am on Tuesday 30 January in order to elect Ministers to the new Government under the leadership of Deputy Farnham.
Deputy Farnham is required to submit his nominations for the Ministerial roles in his Council of Ministers by 9:30am on Monday 29 January.
Deputy Farnham remains as Chief Minister designate until ALL ministerial positions are filled, at which point he and his Council of Ministers will take office. For details on the process for this you can listen to our podcast which covers appointments: bit.ly/4294ucu
Back to news
