Reform Jersey to back vote of no confidence in chief minister

Reform Jersey hold 10 of 49 seats in the States

Jersey's biggest political party will back a vote of no-confidence against the island's chief minister.

Reform Jersey, which holds 10 of the 49 seats in the States, said "things cannot continue as they are".

The States of Jersey's politicians will vote on the matter in the States Assembly meeting on Tuesday.

Chief Minister Kristina Moore said her government had supported islanders on the issues the party highlighted.

Reform Jersey said "things cannot continue as they are" when the motion was first lodged

Sam Mezec, leader of Reform, said he had met with Ms Moore last week, and again on Monday morning to discuss issues including housing and recent teaching strikes.

He said change was now needed: "If the ship is heading towards an iceberg, the last thing you want is stability - you want the ability to change direction.

"We have a government that has no vision for taking Jersey forwards, and if it's allowed to carry on we will have another two-and-a-half years of this term of inaction and poor judgement, and the time is right for change."

'Beset by dysfunctionality'

Reform Jersey said the change Jersey needed was "not possible" under Ms Moore's rule.

It comes after the government's infrastructure minister Deputy Tom Binet brought a vote of no confidence in the chief minister earlier this month.

After lodging the motion, Mr Binet resigned from his role and said he would stand for the job of chief minister if the vote of no confidence was successful.

In a statement, Reform Jersey said: "Whilst Jersey faces a severe cost-of-living crisis, record levels of foodbank usage and growing inequality, the government has been beset by dysfunctionality, bullying accusations, and ministers resigning".

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In March 2023, the party called for an investigation into claims of a toxic culture in the government.

Reform Jersey said the current leadership approach was "not working", and islanders were "suffering the consequences of it".

It said the final decisive factor was when a letter showed what it called "the latest attack on Jersey's teaching profession", in which Deputy Elaine Millar wrote to individual teachers outlining an automatic 8% pay rise and strike ban unless the offer was formally rejected.

It said it believed islanders "would not forgive" its members if they voted "to prop up a government that is now characterised by broken promises, dysfunctionality and lacking any clear vision" to take Jersey forward.

'Addressing issues'

Ms Moore said the vision of the government was "one of community".

She said: "Over the past 18 months the government has supported islanders with the rising cost of living, we are addressing issues with infrastructure that needs to be renewed to enable the building of new homes, we have supported first-time buyers and made progress tackling our recruitment and retention challenges, particularly in health and education.

"We have also dealt with an unprecedented number of major incidents and stabilised critical services, regaining control of spending.

"Our vision is one of a community where everyone can thrive, we will achieve that through economic growth and greater productivity, by building more homes and continuing to invest in our health and education services."