Will I be drawn into existing arguments?

Almost inevitably. The Election period is the time when anyone who is dissatisfied with the decisions of the previous States will be hoping that the next lot will do better, and will want to make sure that candidates can see things from their point of view.

The most difficult conversations are with groups who have some kind of commercial or contractual relationship with the States that they’d like to change the terms of (or who don’t have such a relationship, but think they should). These are hard because there are financial interests at stake, and because you’re inevitably only hearing one side of the story – the independent organisation can tell you how it feels to them, but the part of the public sector they’re negotiating with doesn’t have the same freedom.

If you’re faced with one of these conversations, listen, take notes, but don’t make promises. At least, not about outcomes. Bear in mind that you might find yourself on the Committee which has a contractual relationship with this organisation, and you don’t want to find that you’ve compromised your ability to get involved with it.

Go back to Getting Into Guernsey Politics
Go back to Section 1.2: Getting Elected