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Success for women in parish elections

 

We’re happy to report that ALL of the 13 women who stood for Douzenier and Constable in the 2021 parish elections were successful.

Here’s the detail…

New candidates for Douzenier, Jo May (Castel), Sophie Roughsedge (St Saviour) and Anne Setters (Vale), were elected unopposed at the parish meetings on 3 November.

In the competitive ‘deferred’ elections on 17 November, new candidates for Douzenier, Charlotte Long, Evita Bormane and Diane Mitchell, were elected in St Peter Port alongside existing Douzenier (and Constable), Zoe Lihou.

Cynthia Cormack and Charlotte Le Tissier were elected in St Martin.

 

More diverse representation

Charlotte (Long) is the youngest ever parish candidate at 18 years old and Evita is the first person from Latvia to hold elected office in Guernsey.

St Martin currently only has one woman on its Douzaine but with the election of Cynthia and Charlotte (Le Tissier) it will no longer be the parish with the lowest female representation in the island.

 

 

Proportion of women increases

All of the existing female Douzeniers who were re-standing were successful too.

However, four female Douzeniers have stood down this year – Mary Collins (St Martin), Linda Norman (St Saviour), Danielle Sebire (St Peter Port) and Christine Goodlass (Dean of St Peter Port) so the net gain versus 2020 was four.

The percentage of female Douzeniers has increased from 20% in 2019 to 29% in 2020 to 33% in 2021.

Jane Niles (new Forest Constable) and Leonie Le Tissier (new St Sampson Constable)

Two new female Constables were elected – Leonie Le Tissier in St Sampson and Jane Niles in the Forest – and Tracy Bisson was re-elected in Torteval. That means a big jump in the percentage of women overseeing the administration of their parish, jumping from 20% to 30%.

School committee

All of the women standing for School Committee were elected with the exception of St Peter Port where three women were standing for two seats.

Guernsey’s iconic women of the future?

Thank you for nominating a young woman or girl for our future iconic Guernsey women campaign to celebrate International Women’s Day!

Nominations close on Sunday 6 March at 17.00.

Please fill in the details below.

miriam-makeba-SA

Miriam Makeba - South Africa

Nominated by: Christine James

Zenzile Miriam Makeba (1932 to 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, United Nations goodwill ambassador, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including Afropop, jazz, and world music, she was an advocate against apartheid and white-minority government in South Africa. In 2020 she was named one of Time magazine’s 100 women of the century. 

South Africa is ranked 12th in the world for percentage of women in national parliament: 45.8% (source: data.ipu.org) 

Are you from South Africa? Please email hello@womeninpubliclife.gg if there is a social or cultural group for people from South Africa in Guernsey.

Want to learn more about public office vacancies in Guernsey? 

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The original image “The Hague Jazz 2008 – Miriam Makeba” by Haags Uitburo is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. 

jacinda-adern-2

Jacinda Ardern - New Zealand

Nominated by: Martin Lock

Jacinda Ardern (born 1980) has served as prime minister of New Zealand and leader of the Labour Party since 2017. In 2019, she led the country through the aftermath of the Christchurch mosque shootings, rapidly introducing strict gun laws in response, and throughout 2020 she directed the country’s widely praised response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ardern was the world’s second elected head of government to give birth in office when her daughter was born in 2018. ‘An inspiring Prime Minister who brought a nation together with true leadership, empathy and compassion.’

New Zealand is ranked 4th in the world for percentage of women in national parliament: 48.3% (source: data.ipu.org) 

Other iconic women: Dame Whina Cooper, nominated by Claire Fisher, and Kate Sheppard, nominated by Anna Cooper.

Are you from New Zealand? You may be interested in joining the ANZACs in Guernsey Facebook group

Want to learn more about public office vacancies in Guernsey? 

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