THE States have elected a new Chief Minister and Council of Ministers and the Island now knows the composition of the team that will lead it onwards in conditions that are, to say the least, still difficult.

Senator Ian Gorst, who narrowly defeated Senator Sir Philip Bailhache in the contest for the top job, faces serious challenges on a number of fronts, but his confidence might well have been boosted by the course taken by last week’s ministerial elections. All but two of the new council are men and women who he nominated.

That said, one key position is occupied by a Member who was not Senator Gorst’s preferred candidate. Senator Philip Ozouf was re-elected Treasury Minister – narrowly beating Senator Ian Le Marquand, who will continue to lead Home Affairs.
It is, of course, vital that the Chief Minister and the Treasury Minister co-operate closely. It remains to be seen whether this will be possible, though the signs are favourable, given Senator Gorst’s declared intention to seek harmony and consensus rather than confrontation.

In addition, Senator Ozouf has promised to pay more attention to other people’s opinions and perspectives during his new term of office as the man holding the purse strings. If he can keep this important promise, there is every prospect of the Gorst-Ozouf partnership being a productive one.

Collectively, the Council of Ministers will still be faced with difficult decisions – many of them centred on economic matters and having much in common with the tough and often unpopular courses of action promoted by Senator Ozouf in his previous term of office.

However, there are tactics which will help ministers take the general public with them as they address thorny issues – not least the as-yet unsolved and exceedingly vexing problem of taxing non-resident companies, and the matter of taking pressure off hard-pressed ‘middle Jersey’.

The state of the economy and taxation will no doubt continue to be top of the agenda for the new executive, but there are plenty of other areas which will tax its skills, determination and staying power. In particular, the new Education Minister, Deputy Pat Ryan, Health Minister Anne Pryke, who was re-elected, and Deputy Kevin Lewis, the new man at the helm of Transport and Technical Services – a department with a reputation as a politicians’ graveyard – will all have to hit the ground running.