This Is Jersey

By Anna Plunkett-Cole

IF you are reading this interview, the chances are that you fall into one of two equally stubborn camps with one thing in common: there is little that is going to shake your conviction about Frank Walker.

Some of you will be reading this just so that you can nod and agree with his assessment of his political career and life in Jersey. You will take his opinions as the measured responses of Jersey’s highest-ranking politician. Others will believe just as vehemently that the answers are guarded and speak of a man determined to justify an entrenched position at the head of a secretive political establishment.

Neither camp would be surprised that interviewing the Chief Minister as he prepares to retire from Island politics made for an enjoyable and interesting morning. What you will differ on, however, is the reason why the Senator was charming company.

I can ask you to lay aside either set of opinions and read an interview with a man who, like him or not, has been at the forefront of local politics for 18 years and a dominant figure for at least the last five. Whether you do so or not is entirely a matter for you.

In 1990 Frank Walker stood for Deputy in St Helier No 3 and got in on a platform of, among other things, traffic changes. It seems so very long ago that it is rather odd to hear him talking about such constituency problems as residential parking schemes and his incredulity at the fact that some areas of St Helier are still waiting for the scheme to roll out.

Although, as you expect of a Deputy, his concerns were mainly district-focused, he was always interested in wider Island issues – including the economy (no surprise for a successful businessman) and the regeneration of St Helier.

‘I was heavily involved with one of the biggest businesses in Jersey, and you can’t do that without taking an interest in where the Island is going. It was an interest that grew because of the importance to the company that I was leading and because, above all else, I am a Jerseyman. ‘I also felt that, in some respects, I had gone as far as I could with the business,’ he said. That business was, of course, the Jersey Evening Post and its parent company, the Guiton Group. ‘I had developed it into a publicly quoted group, and I guess I was looking for a new challenge.’

Which brings us to Senator Walker’s relationship with the JEP and the first of the enduring accusations levelled at him over the years – the idea that he has exercised some kind of editorial control here at Five Oaks. It is true that his family have always had strong links with the ownership of the paper. In his own capacity he began as an apprentice, worked his way up through the company, left to set up an advertising agency and then returned to buy the company.

WHEN he became a Deputy in 1990 he resigned as managing director and became chairman. ‘It would have been quite wrong to combine the role of managing director with being in the States,’ he said. This is one of a few subjects which clearly raise his temperature. Others are the allegations of wife-beating and the suggestion that his wealth was handed to him on a plate. ‘There are people in Jersey who will stop at nothing to hurt my position and suggest all kinds of motives for what I do and what I have done.’

He is adamant that he has never in any capacity had editorial control over the JEP. ‘Would anyone who had editorial control allow some of the very critical comments which have been made?’ In short, he finds the media comment as frustrating as any other political figure.

But what about those other accusations? Are they driven by jealousy? ‘Absolutely. I have no doubt at all that it is jealousy. I have been fortunate enough to have been successful, first of all in my business career and then within the States,’ he said.

And here he turns to his defence of his record in business. Yes, his family had strong connections with the paper, but he worked his way up through the company before leaving and setting up Walker’s Advertising Associates. ‘Then, when the JEP was up for sale, I did not want it to be sold out of Jersey,’ he said. So he bought it when he was aged just 29. ‘I was laughed out of so many banks,’ he said, wryly pointing out that they wouldn’t laugh now. It was a challenge, and it was exciting, and it was one of the most fulfilling times of my life. I really did make it happen,’ he said.

But there was a cost. ‘That is one of the sadder aspects of Jersey – the jealousy aimed at anyone who is a success,’ he said.

Has this ever made him want to walk away from politics and do something which garnered less negative and, at times, highly personal criticism? ‘You have good days and bad days – sometimes very black days. There are only two times that I seriously thought of giving up. The first one was when the original wife-beating allegations concerning Elaine [his second wife] were getting totally widespread and increasingly far-fetched. It affected the whole family, and I questioned whether it was worth the price we were paying.

‘The second time was the furore over the infill site at Trinity when Ted Vibert (then a Senator and a vocal opponent of Senator Walker) tried to use it as a opportunity to bring me down. The vote in the States was closer than I thought it should be, and there were a lot of abstentions. At the time I did say publicly that I would consider my future while I was on holiday.’

But have things really changed in the 18 years since he stood in St Helier? ‘Two fundamentals have not changed. The first is the opportunity to have some very lively and at times acrimonious debates in the States, and that will probably always be a feature. The other is the unrivalled ability of a section of the community to moan about just about anything.

‘When I was still in business, I used to meet Cyril Le Marquand, who was then president of the Finance and Economics Committee, and he used to tear his hair out at some of the comment pieces and letters to the editor of the Jersey Evening Post. In that respect nothing has changed,’ he said.

So then, what about all those backhanders? ‘There is an idea that we are all on the make. Some people genuinely believe it. The irony is that it has cost a lot more being a States Member than it would have done to stay in business,’ he said. ‘You have to laugh about that because it is so ridiculous. There have been plenty of allegations and insinuations, but no evidence has ever been forthcoming. Despite the views that some have, Jersey is very clean in this respect.

‘In 18 years, I have only once been offered a bribe. In fact, that’s not true. It didn’t even get that far. He made it very clear that there was about to be a bribe offered and he was thrown out of the building,’ he said. And no, disappointingly, he wouldn’t say who it was.

As far as he is concerned, the political arena has become crueller – unnecessarily so. He said that the Island was extremely fortunate to possess a great many people of ability and talent who were willing to take on posts as directors, commissioners and members of boards and committees and yet on occasion found themselves vilified for doing so.

‘Some States Members seem to feel that it is open season on people on people who work for the Island, that they have opened themselves up for personal vilification. An inevitable consequence of that will be that many people of real calibre and integrity will look at what goes on and say “why should I put myself and my family through that?”,’ he said.

What has been thrown at him individually has, he said, at times gone well beyond politics had become utterly personal. In his view this has been strongly influenced by the personal agendas of those slinging the mud and little to do with what he sees as the main objective to all – the best interests of Jersey.

Talking of those interests, how does he counter the accusation that he and the policies he has driven put the economy and particularly the finance industry ‘first, second and last’? Well, it is not a sexy answer, and it is not one which will convince his critics, but the Senator is genuine in his belief that a closer examination of the Strategic Plan and what has been achieved from it show that a real mix of economic, environmental and social issues in the process of being addressed.

‘I am only too well aware that there are people in Jersey who struggle financially. We have tried to protect the less well off against GST, we have continued to see pensions rise at a healthy rate, and income support has revolutionised States support. Sometimes I don’t think that these matters are sufficiently recognised,’ he said.

He also stands firmly by the introduction of GST. Unpopular though the tax may be, he maintains that it was the best of the choices available for Jersey. ‘With the latest developments in the international economy I have no doubt that we shall need the receipts from GST when we possibly go into decline. We shall need it to keep States finances at an acceptable level,’ he said.

‘That is, perhaps, a good example of my political beliefs and motivation. I have never sought popularity. That is far easier to do. All you have to do is see the things that you know are going to be popular, avoid difficult decisions, and achieve popularity. My objective, short and long term, has always been the best interests of Jersey. That has been my driving force, and it is what I believe senior politicians should be doing,’ he said.

NO one could say that the first years of ministerial government in Jersey have been an easy ride. They would have been difficult if GST and the Waterfront and ructions over Harcourt, the preferred developers for the Esplanade Square phase, had been the only matters to contend with.

Surpassing all these matters, a story broke earlier this year which not only gathered a momentum of its own but was so distressing that all Islanders were left reeling. With hindsight, how does the Chief Minister now view those early days of the historical child abuse inquiry which centred on the excavations at Haut de la Garenne and his reaction and handling of the national media, in particular that disastrous Newsnight interview with Jeremy Paxman?

‘Generally speaking, what happened was inevitable. We had a combination of things which all came together. There was the inbuilt suspicion – and possibly even dislike – of Jersey in the first place in the national media. Lots of them have that perception of Jersey as an island where the people are all millionaires. The perception was negative before anything else happened.’

This situation was then compounded by an investigating officer making suggestions to the media now shown to have been unfounded, Senator Walker added. ‘Any hint of child murder was bound to get an incredible amount of attention. Add to that the suggestions of cellars and shackles and so on, and it was an intoxicating story for those outside Jersey.

‘We also had a senior politician who was doing everything to fuel the fire and ensure that the establishment suffered and that the publicity was as damaging as possible. However, could we have handled it better? Yes, we should have. We were not prepared for that level of onslaught and only had two hours’ warning of the original press conference held by Lenny Harper. Even allowing for that, I personally should have handled it better.’

That Paxman grilling – which the Senator said is still the subject of discussion at the BBC in terms of the presenter’s actions – made him feel physically sick. ‘I shouldn’t have put myself in that position. We found that no matter how many statements we made, the nationals were not interested. By that time they were completely on a roll with Jersey and the house of horrors, and it was not within our ability to stop that. We took top-level media advice and after a while put on our tin hats.

‘Little by little the tide began to turn and questions were asked about whether the perception that had ruled the roost was actually well-founded. We now know that it was not. What I am pleased about, as I leave office, is that we are now clearly much closer to the truth about the child abuse investigation than we were before. Ultimately, the truth will out,’ he said.

One of the longer-term effects of the whole situation has been, he said, the blow to Islanders’ confidence. ‘Who among us who live here had ever imagined that the level of abuse which was being alleged had gone on under our noses?’

When it comes to the allegations of cover-ups, Senator Walker becomes rather more vehement. ‘The allegations have been made by a very limited number of people, but they are very vociferous and have been effective in winning the support of the national media because it is a theory that fills column inches. The only way that we can answer this is by having a police investigation that is now so clearly led by senior, competent police officers, allowing that to run to its conclusion, and having a committee of inquiry whose independence is unquestionable. Only then will those who allege a cover-up be shown to be both shallow and stupid,’ he said.

Whether you like Frank Walker or not, it would be wrong to take away from him the immense pride he clearly feels at having been the Island’s first Chief Minister. Despite the crises, it is a role which he has enjoyed. ‘I have had the pleasure of working with a number of teams in business and politics, but I have never worked with a more committed, and in my view more successful, team than the Council of Ministers. I shall always be grateful to them for the experience of working with them and for the support they have given me,’ he said.

The blueprint of the Strategic Plan given to the States allows, he said, for open evaluation of his council’s failures and successes. ‘It shows that our success level has been at a very high level indeed. There is no organisation in the world that gets it 100 per cent right, and we are no exception.’

Among those successes which he feels have lost out unfairly in the headlines is the enhanced international reputation that Jersey now has. He said that governments which until very recently had looked with, at best, suspicion at Jersey as an offshore tax haven – such as Germany and France – no longer had the inclination to attack.

HE had never been in any doubt that this would be his last term in office. ‘I was 65 last month, and, had I carried on, I would have been 71 by the time my next term of office expired. I would have been in real danger of passing my sell-by date.’

There are also holiday and travel plans afoot, but there will also be time spent in Jersey with his children and grandchildren. Jersey will, he insists, and despite more rumours to the contrary, continue to be his home. ‘Fiona and I also have some incredibly exciting plans, and they would be impossible with the time constraints of office.’

He and Fiona married two years ago, although they had been partners for some years. ‘I don’t know that I could have survived the last few years – at least with my head still together – without Fi’s support. She has been a fantastic wife to me and an incredible chief ministress. She has made many of the situations bearable,’ he said.

He hopes and strongly believes that Jersey can continue to be a successful, positive and lovely place to live, even in the face of the downturn in the global economic climate. ‘I have absolute conviction that I am leaving office knowing that Jersey is in the best possible shape to weather those storms.’

A couple of hours after I left the Chief Minister’s office the phone rang, and the voice on the other end was that of Senator Walker. Given that it had been pretty lengthy interview, it was hard to imagine what had been missed, but there was one more thing he wanted to say: ‘My overriding view of things is what an incredible honour it has been to be Jersey’s first ever Chief Minister. I could not imagine any greater honour, and it is one for which I am deeply grateful.’

Family man: Senator Walker enjoys time away from the spotlight of politics with his wife Fiona. The Senator said: ‘My objective, short and long term, has always been the best interests of Jersey. That has been my driving force, and it is what I believe senior politicians should be doing’

• Pictureby Jon Guegan (00604061)

Article posted on 2nd December, 2008 - 2.54pm