The next steps for Jersey’s politicians

Jersey’s Council of Ministers will begin 2023 with an enhanced level of control over the island’s future, following the approval in December of its first budget.

Despite entering office in July, ministers have thus far been bound by certain financial decisions made under the previous government.

The turn of the year will therefore mark the next step in a new phase for local politics, which began with the general election on 22 June 2022.

She and her Council of Ministers later did most – although not all – of the things they said they would do within their first 100 days in power.

Despite concern from some medical professionals, ministers concluded the plans for Overdale should be scrapped, in favour of building health facilities across multiple sites.

The States Assembly will be asked to formally change course in early 2023.

But external events have also provided challenges for Jersey’s politicians.

Politicians also paid tribute to colleagues, including Sadie Le Sueur Rennard and Sarah Ferguson, who died in 2022 as well as to the victims of the Haut Du Mont explosion and three fishermen lost at sea.

But a number of big votes lie ahead: not least on legalising assisted dying, tackling the housing crisis, and establishing a plan to manage the island’s population and staffing issues.