The challenges ahead for Jersey's new Council of Ministers

Lyndon Farnham was voted as the new chief minister last week

Jersey's new government has taken office under the leadership of Chief Minister Deputy Lyndon Farnham.

It is just over four weeks since Deputy Tom Binet resigned from Deputy Kristina Moore's government and called for a vote of no confidence in her leadership.

As the dust starts to settle, there is no opportunity for the island's new political leader to celebrate.

Much has been said about the need to unify the States Assembly, which has been described as having a "broken" atmosphere following the divisions and disagreements of the past year.

But Mr Farnham will also need to achieve consensus within the Council of Ministers if he and his top team are to get anything done.

In seeking to bring different factions together, he has become the leader of a government which includes members with divergent views from across the political spectrum.

He will be joined in Broad Street by two, soon-to-be three, members of centre-left political party Reform Jersey.

It will now take control of Housing, Social Security, and, shortly, Education.

Lyndon Farnham said the aim of ministers was to work collaboratively to deliver the best outcomes for islanders

Mr Farnham has also picked centre-right conservative politicians.

Make no mistake - there is plenty on which these two groups of States Members do not agree.

Is Mr Farnham going to find himself pulled in multiple directions by ministers with conflicting aims?

If so, how will he and the rest of the Council of Ministers respond?

Deputy Sam Mezec, the leader of Reform Jersey and now the newly appointed Minister for Housing and Communities, has already said his party colleagues will not be happy to serve in government "at any cost".

The last time members of Reform Jersey were in government they resigned in order to support an unsuccessful vote of no confidence against the then-Chief Minister John Le Fondre.

New health facilities

In order to retain the support of his top team, might the chief minister be forced to sacrifice his principles, and agree to pursue policies he would rather ignore?

Some would argue such a situation has already arisen after Mr Farnham announced he now supports, rather than opposes, plans to build new health facilities across multiple sites - a move known to have convinced a number of politicians to back him as chief minister.

Mr Farnham denies he has sold out his principles for political gain, telling me instead "it is about political common-sense" after ministers "lost the opportunity" to borrow hundreds of millions of pounds at low interest rates to fund a single-site project.

Irrespective of the reasons there will be those who now feel Mr Farnham has shown himself to be a leader who can change his mind depending upon the circumstances.

Some will see that as a strength. Others will feel his authority has already been weakened.

Meanwhile, Mr Binet has emerged from the upheaval of the past few weeks with more authority than at any point during his 18-month-long political career.

He is now the deputy chief minister - the island's second most senior politician - while as Minister for Health and Social Services he will lead the government department with the biggest annual budget.

It is worth remembering the last time a chief minister handed him responsibility for the hospital plans, Mr Binet ended up bringing a motion which led to the fall of the government.

Mr Farnham will no doubt be hoping lightning does not strike twice.

Elsewhere around the top table, Constables Andy Jehan and Richard Vibert have both shown in recent months they are not afraid to resign from government on points of principle.

And uncertainty remains over who might be given assistant minister positions.

Mr Farnham was voted in after two rounds of voting

Once each politician knows their new role the assembly will seek to return to business as usual.

But few expect the events of the past few weeks to be quickly forgotten.

Wounds are yet to heal. Tensions remain unresolved, just below the surface.

Mr Farnham has expressed a desire to wipe the slate clean and move forwards.

But with the next election still two and a half years away - more than half a political term - nobody can guarantee Jersey's government will not have changed shape once again by the time islanders return to the polls.