Political career
Early political career
St Pier was first elected to the States of Guernsey at the general election on 18 April 2012 as a deputy for St Sampson's District. [2]
He served as minister of treasury and resources from May 2012 to May 2016,overseeing the island's public finances during a challenging economic period. [3]
President of Policy and Resources Committee
St Pier was re-elected at the 2016 general election,though with a reduced vote. After the third secret ballot he was elected in May 2016 as president of the Policy and Resources Committee,effectively becoming the island's Chief Minister. [4] [5]
During his tenure as president from 2016 to 2020,St Pier led the States' response to various challenges,including fiscal pressures and later the COVID-19 pandemic. He was known for his direct communication style,particularly during the pandemic when he delivered regular public statements about lockdown measures and government responses. [6]
St Pier lost his position as president in October 2020 following the 2020 general election,when Peter Ferbrache was elected to succeed him. [7]
Future Guernsey and Forward Guernsey
In December 2021,St Pier launched Future Guernsey as a successor political movement,describing it as "fiscally and environmentally responsible and socially liberal". [9] This first iteration was later de-registered as a political party.
In November 2024,St Pier relaunched Future Guernsey as a policy-focused organisation,serving as Political Adviser alongside former ITN chief executive John Hardie as chairman and communications consultant Lindsey Freeman as CEO. [10] Future Guernsey developed a comprehensive manifesto focusing on six core policy areas but was deliberately structured as an unregistered movement,meaning it could not legally endorse candidates under Guernsey electoral law.
Electoral law workaround
To circumvent the legal limitations faced by Future Guernsey,St Pier launched Forward Guernsey on 11 April 2025 as a completely separate registered political party for the upcoming 2025 Guernsey general election. [11] Forward Guernsey adopted the Future Guernsey manifesto "in its entirety",effectively transferring the policy development work to an electoral vehicle that could legally contest elections. [12]
St Pier explained the separation was necessary because "Future Guernsey is not permitted by its constitution or electoral law to endorse and support candidates",requiring the creation of Forward Guernsey as a distinct legal entity. [13] Upon launching Forward Guernsey,St Pier resigned his role as Political Adviser to Future Guernsey to become the new party's leader,maintaining the organizations as legally separate entities.
2025 election campaign
Forward Guernsey launched with four initial candidates:St Pier,Tom Rylatt,Rhona Humphreys and Ryan Courtney. [14] The party's structure represents what St Pier described as "nothing like this or as comprehensive as this has ever been tried before in Guernsey",designed to provide policy coherence while working within electoral law constraints. [15]
St Pier has been critical of what he describes as the "endemic inertia and indecision" of independent-dominated assemblies,advocating for policy-based party politics as a solution to governmental dysfunction. [16]
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