2020 Guernsey general election

The 2020 Guernsey general election took place on 7 October 2020 to elect 38 members of the States of Guernsey. Originally scheduled to be held in June 2020, it was delayed a year to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic before being brought forward to its final date.[4][5][6] This election was the first on the island to include political parties, as the first ones were organised and registered in 2020.

2020 Guernsey general election
7 October 2020 (2020-10-07)
38 of the 40 seats in the States of Guernsey
Registered30,899[1]
Turnout79.70% ( 7.79 pp)[2][3]
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader N/A Gavin St Pier Mark Helyar
Party Independent Guernsey Partnership of Independents Guernsey Party
Seats won 22 10 6
President of the Policy and Resources Committee before election

Gavin St Pier
Independent

 President of the Policy and Resources Committee after election

Peter Ferbrache
Independent

On 16 October 2020, Peter Ferbrache was elected president of the Policy and Resources Committee by a vote of 23–17, ahead of incumbent Gavin St Pier.[7]

Timetable
  • 21 August: Last day the public was able to register to vote / Electoral roll closed[5]
  • 1 September: Candidate nomination period opened[6]
  • 4 September: Deadline (4pm) for the delivery of candidate nomination papers[6]
  • 25 September: Deadline (midnight) to apply for a postal vote[5][8]
  • 3–6 October: Advance "super" polling stations are open[5]
  • 6 October: Advance parish polling stations are open[5]
  • 7 October: Polling day (polling stations open at 8 am and close at 8 pm)[5][9] 6am deadline for posting postal ballots.[10]
  • 8 October: Counting of votes[6]
  • 10–11 October: Recount

Electoral system

The electoral system was changed as a result of a 2018 referendum. The 38 members of the States will be elected from a single island-wide constituency by plurality-at-large voting, with voters being able to cast up to 38 votes.[11]

Prior to the elections, the age for candidates to stand was reduced from 20 to 18. The voting age is 16.[12] Campaign spending per candidate was also reduced from £9,000 to £6,000.[11]

For the first time, a Guernsey election was scrutinised by a team of international observers who will produce two reports on the process.[13]

Candidates

A total of 119 candidates filed nominations.[14][15][16] There were 28 female candidates (24%), which was an increase over the previous two elections, with 10 of 12 current female deputies standing for re-election.[17] Twenty-nine candidates in total stood for re-election. The election was the first including political parties, as the first parties were organised in 2020.

Rick Lowe, a candidate for the Guernsey Party, withdrew from the election following a medical diagnosis.[18]

All but 6 candidates provided a manifesto for printing in a book which was then sent to every address that had a registered voter. The book and the mandates from the other 6 candidates were published on the election2020 website.[19] A small number of candidates paid the cost of sending their expanded manifestos to registered voters.

Party Leader Seats at
dissolution		 Candidates
Independent N/A 38 78
Guernsey Party Mark Helyar 0 8
Guernsey Partnership of Independents Gavin St Pier 0 21
Alliance Party Guernsey Barry Weir 0 11

Hustings

An all day public hustings event at Beau Sejour on Sunday 20 September with 116 candidates showed disappointing numbers of the public attending. Those that did were mainly elderly people, with Islanders thinking that having over 100 candidates makes it too difficult and time-consuming to research which candidates have acceptable views on matters of personal interest.[20]

Postal votes

Over 21,000 postal votes were requested, representing over 67% of registered voters.[21]

Results

The results were reported at 01:15 local time on Friday, 9 October.[22] The new deputies will be sworn in on 16 October.

Four unsuccessful candidates who had polled within 493 votes (2% of voters) of the final elected candidate's votes requested a recount.[23] The recount did not change the elected candidates but adjusted the number of voters from 24,647 to 24,627[24] with votes for a number of candidates increasing or decreasing by single digit amounts. The largest change for one candidate was 11 votes, while the number of rejected ballots increased by 67, two pairs of unelected candidates switched final positions and two candidates of the same surname were mixed up in the first count, receiving each other's count, which was fixed.[25]

The elected deputies will serve until the next general election in June 2025.[26]

Summary results

A total of 18 deputies were re-elected, while 20 were newcomers. The number of female deputies fell from 12 to 8, with four re-elected and four new deputies, giving 21% female representation in the States.[27]

Summary results of the 2020 Guernsey general election
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Guernsey Partnership of Independents153,11924.0210New
Guernsey Party63,84410.016New
Alliance Party Guernsey21,4493.360New
Independent399,15562.6122–16
Seats reserved for Alderney20
Total637,567100.00400
Valid votes24,47399.37
Invalid/blank votes1540.63
Total votes24,627100.00
Registered voters/turnout30,89979.70
Source: Guernsey Election Office

Full results
Results of the 2020 Guernsey general election[1][2][28]
Party Candidate Votes %
Guernsey Partnership of Independents Gavin St Pier (incumbent) 13,927 56.55%
Guernsey Partnership of Independents Heidi Soulsby (incumbent) 12,779 51.89%
Independent Andrea Dudley-Owen (incumbent) 12,583 51.09%
Guernsey Party Mark Helyar 11,398 46.28%
Independent Peter Ferbrache (incumbent) 11,142 45.24%
Independent John Gollop (incumbent) 11,033 44.80%
Independent Peter Roffey (incumbent) 10,254 41.64%
Independent Neil Inder (incumbent) 10,250 41.62%
Guernsey Partnership of Independents Lyndon Trott (incumbent) 9,903 40.21%
Independent Susan Aldwell 9,881 40.12%
Independent Liam McKenna 9,308 37.80%
Guernsey Partnership of Independents Yvonne Burford 9,285 37.70%
Guernsey Partnership of Independents Al Brouard (incumbent) 9,273 37.65%
Guernsey Partnership of Independents Steve Falla 9,242 37.53%
Guernsey Party Simon Vermeulen 9,081 36.87%
Guernsey Partnership of Independents Sasha Kazantseva-Miller 9,016 36.61%
Independent Sam Haskins 8,896 36.12%
Independent Charles Parkinson (incumbent) 8,812 35.78%
Independent Rob Prow (incumbent) 8,699 35.32%
Independent Chris Blin 8,694 35.30%
Guernsey Partnership of Independents Lindsay De Sausmarez (incumbent) 8,645 35.10%
Guernsey Partnership of Independents Jonathan Le Tocq (incumbent) 8,636 35.07%
Independent Adrian Gabriel 8,404 34.13%
Independent Victoria Oliver (incumbent) 8,367 33.97%
Independent Aidan Matthews 8,258 33.53%
Guernsey Party John Dyke 8,214 33.35%
Independent Andrew Taylor 7,770 31.55%
Independent Andy Cameron 7,694 31.24%
Independent David Mahoney 7,521 30.54%
Guernsey Party Nick Moakes 7,420 30.13%
Guernsey Partnership of Independents Tina Bury 7,394 30.02%
Independent Simon Fairclough 7,394 30.02%
Independent David De Lisle (incumbent) 7,138 28.98%
Independent Marc Leadbeater (incumbent) 7,111 28.87%
Independent Lester Queripel (incumbent) 6,950 28.22%
Guernsey Party Bob Murray 6,715 27.27%
Guernsey Party Chris Le Tissier 6,615 26.86%
Independent Carl Meerveld (incumbent) 6,477 26.30%
Independent Fergus Dunlop 6,351 25.79%
Independent Pierre Ehmann 6,336 25.73%
Independent Catherine Hall 6,277 25.49%
Guernsey Partnership of Independents Scott Ogier 6,089 24.72%
Independent Garry Collins 6,076 24.67%
Independent Adam Martel 5,984 24.30%
Independent Siân Jones 5,875 23.86%
Independent Jennifer Merrett (incumbent) 5,834 23.69%
Guernsey Partnership of Independents Sarah Hansmann Rouxel (incumbent) 5,714 23.20%
Guernsey Party Clive McMinn 5,701 23.15%
Guernsey Partnership of Independents Josh Macksoni 5,678 23.06%
Guernsey Partnership of Independents André Quevâtre 5,577 22.65%
Independent Richard Skipper 5,529 22.45%
Independent Robert Gregson 5,415 21.99%
Guernsey Party Tory Russell 5,296 21.50%
Independent Michael Beaumont 5,291 21.48%
Guernsey Partnership of Independents Mark Dorey (incumbent) 5,196 21.10%
Independent Mark Fletcher 5,104 20.73%
Guernsey Partnership of Independents Nigel Chescoe 5,065 20.57%
Independent Mary Lowe (incumbent) 5,031 20.43%
Guernsey Partnership of Independents David Inglis 4,920 19.98%
Guernsey Partnership of Independents Sandra Mbe James 4,798 19.48%
Guernsey Partnership of Independents Jane Stephens (incumbent) 4,734 19.22%
Independent Lucia Faith 4,602 18.69%
Independent Adrian Dilcock 4,549 18.47%
Independent Ross Le Brun 4,532 18.40%
Independent Barry Brehaut (incumbent) 4,527 18.38%
Independent Guilhem Chene 4,508 18.31%
Independent Craig Bougourd 4,376 17.77%
Independent Jon Wilson 4,282 17.39%
Independent Paul Neuvel 4,144 16.83%
Independent Ian Le Page 4,048 16.44%
Independent John Robilliard 4,033 16.38%
Independent Yves Lenormand 3,918 15.91%
Independent Jeremy Smithies (incumbent) 3,879 15.39%
Independent Jonathan Crossan 3,804 15.45%
Independent Nicola Young 3,797 15.42%
Independent Martyn Roussel 3,786 15.37%
Independent Ivan Rihoy 3,746 15.21%
Independent Neil Shepherd 3,739 15.18%
Guernsey Partnership of Independents Rhian Tooley (incumbent) 3,669 14.90%
Independent Sarah Breton 3,645 14.80%
Guernsey Partnership of Independents Shane Langlois (incumbent) 3,579 14.53%
Independent Neil Cave 3,495 14.19%
Independent Diane Mitchell 3,477 14.12%
Independent Neil Forman 3,453 14.02%
Independent Matt Fallaize (incumbent) 3,446 13.99%
Guernsey Party Rick Lowe 3,404 13.82%
Independent Elis Bebb 3,387 13.75%
Alliance Party Guernsey Tony Cunningham 3,385 13.75%
Independent Darren Duquemin 3,215 13.05%
Independent Ray McLean 3,164 12.85%
Independent Jenny Tasker 3,162 12.84%
Independent Melanie Harvey-Alan 3,073 12.48%
Independent Tony Walkington 2,839 11.53%
Independent Dawn Tindall (incumbent) 2,788 11.32%
Alliance Party Guernsey Elaine Mahy 2,760 11.21%
Independent Rosie Henderson 2,665 10.82%
Independent Christopher Nicolle 2,661 10.81%
Independent Syd Bowsher 2,592 10.53%
Independent Simon De La Mare 2,488 10.10%
Independent Robin Gibson 2,355 9.56%
Alliance Party Guernsey Kevin Hainsworth 2,239 9.09%
Independent Mark Brehaut 2,222 9.02%
Independent Rob Harnish 2,024 8.22%
Independent Ann Robilliard 1,933 7.85%
Independent Art Allen 1,907 7.74%
Alliance Party Guernsey Geoffrey Mahy 1,895 7.69%
Alliance Party Guernsey Barry Weir 1,883 7.65%
Alliance Party Guernsey Jane Le Ber 1,858 7.54%
Independent Clint Gardner 1,839 7.47%
Independent Steven Wall 1,774 7.20%
Alliance Party Guernsey Luke Tough 1,716 6.97%
Alliance Party Guernsey Phil Le Ber 1,500 6.09%
Alliance Party Guernsey Arron Hawke 1,418 5.76%
Alliance Party Guernsey Ken Smith 1,398 5.68%
Alliance Party Guernsey Daniel T. Mihalache 1,397 5.67%
Independent Phil Smith 1,270 5.16%
Independent Barry Harris 945 3.84%
Independent Gordon Young 772 3.13%
Independent John Titmuss 555 2.25%
Total valid votes 637,567
Rejected ballots 154
Turnout 24,627 79.70%
Registered electors 30,899

Withdrew for medical reasons[18]

References
  1. "The Results of the 2020 General Election". Election 2020 Guernsey. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  2. "Guernsey Election 2020 recount: No changes overall". BBC News. 11 October 2020. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  3. "Guernsey Election 2016: As it happened". BBC News. 27 April 2016. Archived from the original on 3 September 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  4. "Coronavirus forces Guernsey general election postponement". BBC News. 15 April 2020. Archived from the original on 8 September 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  5. "Coronavirus: Postponed Guernsey election brought forward". BBC News. 1 July 2020. Archived from the original on 8 September 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  6. Carpenter, Aaron (2 July 2020). "Election confirmed!". Bailiwick Express (Guernsey ed.). Archived from the original on 8 September 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  7. "Peter Ferbrache elected as P&R president". BBC News. 16 October 2020. Archived from the original on 16 October 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  8. Mann, Nick (1 September 2020). "Nominations open for island-wide election". Guernsey Press. Archived from the original on 3 September 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  9. "Where to Vote". Election 2020 Guernsey. Archived from the original on 8 September 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  10. "Postal voting deadline extended by Guernsey Post". ITV News. 2 October 2020.
  11. Guernsey 2020 election candidate spending capped at £6,000 BBC News, 12 December 2019
  12. Guernsey 2020 island-wide election date set BBC News, 25 April 2019
  13. "International experts to observe Guernsey's historic election". Bailiwick Express. 5 October 2020.
  14. "Candidates for the office of People's Deputy". Guernsey Election 2020. 4 September 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  15. Green, Will (4 September 2020). "More than 100 candidates for Guernsey's 2020 election". Guernsey Press. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  16. "Guernsey Election: 119 candidates on ballot". ITV News. 17 September 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  17. "More female candidates 'a step in the right direction'". Guernsey press. 9 September 2020.
  18. "Guernsey Election: 119 candidates on ballot". ITV News. 17 September 2020.
  19. "Combined Candidate Manifestos" (PDF). Guernsey Election 2020. Guernsey Election Office. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  20. "Islanders 'overwhelmed' by large number of candidates". Guernsey press. 21 September 2020.
  21. "Tenfold increase as 21,000 people register for postal voting". Bailiwick Express. 30 September 2020.
  22. "Guernsey Election 2020: Results". BBC. 9 October 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  23. "Guernsey election to be recounted". ITV News. 9 October 2020.
  24. "Declaration of Result of Recount" (PDF). States of Guernsey. 11 October 2020.
  25. "Guernsey Election recount reveals original declaration blunder". ITV News. 11 October 2020.
  26. "Delayed general election to be held on 7 October". Guernsey Press. 1 July 2020.
  27. "Fewer women voted into Guernsey States". ITV News. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  28. "Guernsey Election 2020: Results". BBC News. 11 October 2020. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
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