Introduction 🇬🇬

My name is David Reed. I am a South African Chartered Accountant and have now spent a third of my life in Guernsey. I am married to a local and we are raising our young children here in the Vale where our roots run deep. These islands are, for better or worse, my home forever.

This manifesto is not about me though, I don't want you to vote for me to be a Deputy. I am asking you to vote for me for something completely different. I am not standing to promote myself, I am standing to promote an idea and we can let the democratic process decide its merits.

I am campaigning on a single issue: 

Reducing the number of deputies in the Assembly.

Big Picture 🌍

To begin with, the world is changing at an accelerating pace, and in unexpected ways, and many of the challenges we face have their origin outside of our borders. It is my belief, based on my professional background and experience, that the primary driver of our issues is in the nature of the monetary system and the global debt crisis which few acknowledge. That topic is beyond the scope of this manifesto, although the theme remains relevant in a way. 

What I wish to offer instead is a perspective that directly addresses the fundamental nature of the problem in a way that as many people from every walk of life can appreciate. 

If we are to be outwardly effective, negotiate these shifts and prosper as a jurisdiction then we have to work towards first being inwardly effective and that involves thinking differently and embracing new ways of solving problems.

Coming specifically down to this manifesto, and the context of this election, thinking differently begins with the broadly accepted viewpoint that our system of government and politics is not working for us in the way we’d like, and we need change. 

Loopholes 🐇

There are solutions available, however some of these solutions present candidates and Deputies with inherent conflicts of interests, that is: no-one is willing to do themselves out of an income or the status that comes with the position - we are stuck in a linear way of thinking. 

They are all campaigning for you to employ them and therefore I am standing to open up an alternative option. 

In the December 2024 debate on reducing the number of deputies ahead of this election, the proposal to reduce them by 10 failed outright, but the proposal to reduce by 5 very nearly went through, it was only narrowly defeated. 

So here we are again, voting to elect 38 deputies.

However standing Deputies already have it within their power to reduce their number. Should a single elected deputy decline to take up their seat immediately after being elected via the IWV system it can only be filled by way of an island-wide by-election, we would be left with 37 deputies and a single vacant seat pending that by-election. 

However current proposed amendments to the Reform Law provisions relating to by-election (which were never updated to reflect IWV) are that a by-election would only be triggered if there was more than 1 vacant seat. This is still to be set into law by the next Assembly, but this amendment is very likely to become law because 1 vacant seat on its own is not likely to create a democratic deficit under IWV and, due to fiscal pressures, holding an by-election for just a single seat would not be cost-effective.

In other words, if a candidate in the 2025 election offered to immediately leave 1 seat vacant it would allow us, to reduce the number of Deputies by 1 straight away and wouldn't trigger a by-election, there is a way! All it requires is for a candidate to point out this probable loophole, declare their intention to test it and then be willing to suffer the trials and tribulations of running such an unorthodox campaign.

IWV assumes that the top 38 candidates want to enter the world of politics, but I have no such aspirations, I am just Dave from Accounts, but one does not have to hold public office to make a difference, there are many unexpected ways to serve. 

This is something I can do for Guernsey, to give us another option on the ballot that is entirely within the rules of the election, therefore this is my campaign pledge:

If elected, I will decline to take the Oath, leave my seat vacant and take no pay.

Consider this a referendum on the current system of 38 deputies, if you like.