The Sark general election, 2008, held on 10 December 2008, was the first election held in the Channel Island

Channel Islands

The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...

 of Sark

Sark

Sark is a small island in the Channel Islands in southwestern English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. It is a royal fief, geographically located in the Channel Islands in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, with its own set of laws based on Norman law and its own parliament. It has a population...

 under a new constitutional arrangement.

Fifty-seven candidates (almost 10% of the population) stood for 28 seats in the Chief Pleas. The elected members in the new Chief Pleas are titled Conseillers and have replaced the mixed system of elected People's Deputies and ex-officio Tenants in the outgoing Chief Pleas. Presidency of the Chief Pleas has been retained by the Seneschal, whose term has been extended from 3 years to for-life. The Conseillers elected in 2008 will serve for either four years or two years. Those 14 Conseillers elected for two-year mandates will serve until the next election in December 2010 when the successive mandate will be four years, thus achieving a rolling election cycle. The selection of which Conseillers elected in 2008 will serve a two-year mandate or four-year mandate was determined by random ballot.

A recount was called to take place on 11 December due to the closeness of the votes for the 28th seat.

Background

On 16 January and 21 February 2008, the Chief Pleas approved a law which introduces a 30-member chamber, with 28 elected members and two unelected members. On 9 April 2008 the Privy Council

Privy Council of the United Kingdom

Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...

 approved the Sark law reforms, and the new chamber convened for the first time on 21 January 2009.

Election

The first election held in Sark under the new system took place on 10 December 2008. In total, 28 Conseillers were to be elected from 57 candidates, with the latter figure representing about 12% of the electorate in the island. Each voter received 28 votes to select their preferred candidates for each of the available seats. A recount was ordered as several of the candidates for the last seat were separated by only a few votes.

The election reflected the "Sark chasm" throughout the island between those who support the traditional system and those who support further reforms.

Results

The overwhelming majority of candidates who were elected had either previously voted in Chief Pleas to enact the 2008 Reform Law, or had made public statements in support of it, and have since advocated the further dismantling of the feudal system via the reform of the ancient feudal land tenure laws.

Results from the second count were:

Position	Candidate	Votes	Years
1	David Thomas Cocksedge	336	2
2	Rossford John de Carteret	318	4
3	Helen Mildred Plummer	302	2
4	David Woods Melling	284	2
5	Helen Clair Magell	282	4
6	Christopher Howard Bateson	280	2
7	Antony Dunks	270	4
8	Stephen Laurence Henry	266	4
9	David Pollard	263	4
9	Andrew Charles Prevel	263	4
11	Elizabeth Mary Dewe	253	4
11	Sandra Williams	253	4
13	Edric Baker	249	2
14	Paul Williams	242	4
15	Diane Baker	233	2
16	Paul Martin Armorgie	230	4
17	Andrew James Cook	228	4
18	Richard James Dewe	227	2
18	Charles Noel Donald Maitland	227	4
20	Michelle Andrée Perrée	224	2
21	Christopher Robert Nightingale	215	2
22	Janet Mary Guy	212	2
22	John Edward Hunt	212	2
24	Anthony Granville Ventress	201	2
25	Stefan Bernard Gomoll	200	2
26	Ann Atkinson	199	4
27	Christine Dorothy Audrain	185	4
28	Peter John Cole	184	2
29	Philip James Carré	179
30	Tony Eric le Lievre	178
31	William George Raymond	169
32	Peter Blayney Stisted	169
33	Bertha Helen Cole	165
34	Simon Peter Elmont	147
35	Bernard John Southern	136
36	Kevin Patrick Delaney	131
37	Peter Francis Luce Tonks	123
38	Simon Ashley Couldridge	122
39	John Trevor Greer Donnelly	118
40	Paul David Mitchell Burgess	117
41	Roger Ian Wynne Kemp	106
42	Colin Francis John Guille	104
43	Belinda Doyle	96
44	Michael Joseph Doyle	93
45	Mini McCusker	91
45	Natalie Tighe	91
47	Fiona Ann Bird	90
48	Cheryl Mary Tonks	85
49	Natalie Alexandra Criak	82
50	Daniel Walter Robert Parsons	75
51	David John Bird	74
52	Kevin Laws	70
53	Kaye Jin Mee Char	59
54	Jamie Karl John Swanson	50
55	Leigh Dianne Gibbins	45
56	Susan Christine Strachey	43
57	Javie John Dance	14

After the results of the ballot were declared, a separate ballot was held among the 28 successful Conseillers to determine which would serve for two years, and which for four years, which is indicated by the figure after the number of votes. After the initial period, Conseillers will serve four-year terms with half elected every two years.

Reaction of Barclay brothers

When it became apparent that only about five candidates they had supported had been elected, the Barclay brothers

David and Frederick Barclay

Sir David Rowat Barclay and Sir Frederick Hugh Barclay are British businessmen. The identical twin brothers have very substantial business interests primarily in media, retail and property. The Sunday Times Rich List of 2007 estimated their wealth at £1.8 billion...

 announced that they were shutting down their businesses on Sark — hotels, shops, estate agents and building firms — leaving about 100 people, or a sixth of the population, out of work. The closures started almost immediately following the announcement. Diana Beaumont, the wife of Seigneur John Michael Beaumont

John Michael Beaumont

John Michael Beaumont, OBE is the 22nd Seigneur of Sark. A retired engineer, he is a son of Francis William Lionel Collings Beaumont and Enid . He succeeded his grandmother, Sibyl Hathaway, as the ruler of Sark upon her death in 1974.- References :...

, commented that "[the Barclay brothers] were the ones that started all this democracy business, now they don’t like it because they haven't won." The States of Jersey

States of Jersey

The States of Jersey is the parliament and government of Jersey.The Assembly of the States of Jersey has exercised legislative powers since 1771, when law-making power was transferred from the Royal Court of Jersey....

, sitting in session on 12 December 2008, resolved to send a message of support to its sister island of Sark.

In January 2009 the Barclays quietly began reversing the shutdown process.

External links

• Sark Government