.No public poll for Chief Minister

Friday 28th September 2007, 12:00AM BST.

PLANS for Islandwide elections for Chief Minister and to require candidates to declare at their nomination meetings that they want to head the Council of Ministers have been rejected by the States.

The propositions, brought by Jersey Democratic Alliance members Deputies Geoff Southern and Shona Pitman, were voted down by Members yesterday. Deputy Southern’s proposal was defeated by 30 votes to ten after just one other Member spoke on it, but Deputy Pitman’s pro-posals were closer to being carried. Her attempt to end the secret ballot for Chief Minister lost out by 23 votes to 17, but further proposals preventing Members from standing for the post of Chief Minister unless they had been elected to the States in the two months before the Chief Minister selection vote, and unless they had declared that they would stand for the post in their nomination meeting, fell by 33 votes to seven.

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