24-06-2025
Jersey politician creates website which ranks States Members on their contributions to the Assembly
Jersey politician Deputy Montfort Tadier has spoken 349,048 words in the Assembly this term - equivalent to reading three Harry Potter books aloud and starting the fourth.
This number is more than the 17 quietest politicians combined.
The data has been curated by Deputy Alex Curtis on a new website based off official records, revealing the highest and lowest contributing members in the States during this political period.
Whilst Deputy Tadier holds the top spot for talking the most, Deputy Richard Honeycombe ranks last, speaking just 1,109 words.
The website, 'digitalStates', was created by Deputy Curtis to make it easier for people to access and interpret public records.
As well as words spoken, it also ranks politicians in order of their contributions in the Assembly since the start of the political term in 2022 - the top ten are:
External Relations Minister, Deputy Ian Gorst, ranked 14th and says: "It is important that I'm held to account for my responsibilities as a minister and answer questions.
"I also like to contribute to those debates where I either have something unique or influential to say. But equally, one has to be mindful that one doesn't get so used to one's voice that we talk for the sake of talking."
The politicians who scored lowest on the contribution chart:
St Lawrence Connétable, Deidre Mezbourian: 148 contributions
Grouville and St Martin Deputy, Carolyn Labey: 142 contributions
St Mary Connétable, David Johnson: 131 contributions
St Helier South Deputy, Beatriz Porée: 99 contributions
St Clement Deputy, Barbara Ward: 91 contributions
St Clement Connétable, Marcus Troy: 80 contributions
Trinity Connétable, Phillip Le Sueur: 75 contributions
Grouville Connétable, Mark Labey: 38 contributions
Grouville and St Martin Deputy, Rose Binet: 14 contributions
St Ouen Connétable, Richard Honeycombe: 9 contributions
Connétable Le Sueur explains: "Quite clearly, if something has already been said, then there is no need to get up and say something, and therefore I only contribute when I feel my contribution will make an impact in the debate."
Analysing the data, Sir Mark Boleat, Senior Advisor at Jersey's Policy Centre, says: "I don't think the amount of minutes they have spoken for is a good test of how effective they are.
"There can be some people who can speak a lot and achieve a lot, some speak very little and achieve a great deal as well.
"And there are some who don't achieve a lot but go to enormous lengths. So it's not a good measure of effectiveness as to how many minutes they speak.
"People can chair a scrutiny panel that produces an excellent report and it doesn't require them to speak once.
"I think one of the problems with the Assembly is that people do think it is about passing laws, but we know what people are concerned about in Jersey, the cost of living, the health service; neither of those requires any laws to be passed, they simply require the services to be dealt with effectively.
"If there is going to be a league table on who speaks the most, then we are going to have much longer States' meetings with everyone feeling they have got to speak or they won't be in the league table."
The website also showcases propositions brought forward by different State Members with a breakdown of who has voted pour (for) and contre (against).
Deputies Steve Ahier, Malcolm Ferey and Max Andrews voted the most, while Lucy Stephenson, Philip Ozouf and Deidre Mezbourian voted the least.
Explaining his website, Deputy Curtis says: "There is a lot of content said in the States, hundreds of pages worth, sometimes almost every day.
"But it's not easy for us to go back and say, 'Well, what did so and so say?' or, 'I want to know every time Les Sablons or a development was mentioned'.
"Now I have built a way that people can do that. They can search for information in ways they haven't done before."
