Resources
Infosheets and useful links
A Guide to the Annual Parish Election Process
Campaigning in a parish election
What do Douzeniers and Constables do?
Jo May’s experience of being a Douzenier
Governance review of the Committee for Home Affairs. Full text. Executive summary.
Governance review of the Committee for Health and Social Care. Full text.
Governance review of the Policy and Resources Committee. Full text.
Governance review of the Committee for Education, Sport and Culture. Full text.
Scrutiny Management Committee’s public hearings and reviews. Archive.
Channel Islands Women at Work Index 2023 – PwC – Guernsey would benefit from a 5% boost to GDP by matching the female labour rate to Sweden’s.
A Women’s History of Guernsey, 1850s-1950s by Rose-Marie Crossan. Highly recommended.
Gender Audit of the States Assembly in Jersey – Diversity Forum Report 2019.
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1 Jul 2026: Ladies’ College honours Amelia
10 Jun 2026: Helen tops the polls in Jersey
25 May 2026: Brooke is new Chamber president
5 May 2026: Susan to lead innovation board
20 Apr 2026: What’s important for Guernsey women?
10 Apr 2026: You could be at Tina’s table
19 Mar 2026: Amanda brings a fresh perspective
3 Mar 2026: You could be number 12…
4 Feb 2026: Sarah ensures ODPA independence
12 Jan 2026: Carolyn helps fund local charities
Go to parliament.gg to find out which policies and laws the Deputies will be debating at each meeting. Includes links to listen back to recordings of previous meetings. Meetings start on the date shown and may continue until the end of the week, depending on the length of the agenda.
For States Meeting dates further in the future, click here.
If you want to watch a States meeting from the Public Gallery of the Royal Court, here’s what you need to know:
1. States meetings take place every three weeks or so – for dates, click here. Meetings start at 9.30am and run to 12.30pm, then after lunch from 2.30pm to 5.30pm. Visitors are allowed to enter and leave the public gallery at any point while the States is in session, you don’t have to be there from the beginning.
2. To find the gallery, go to the new entrance to the Royal Court building in St James Street (revolving door). Tell Security you’ve come to watch the States meeting and ask them to direct you. Or watch the gov.gg ‘How to access the States chamber’ video.
3. As you go through the wooden door to enter the gallery, you’ll see some stairs to your left. At the top of those stairs turn right and stand at the top of the aisle.
4. If the States is in session you will see the Presiding Officer (usually the Bailiff or the Deputy Bailiff) across the chamber in front of you. It is polite to acknowledge the Presiding Officer by pausing briefly and bowing your head slightly. But don’t worry if you forget, he or she won’t mind.
5. Take a seat wherever you feel comfortable. Knee room is limited in the front row.
6. No clapping, talking or other noise, even if the Deputies clap. No communication with States members while the States is in session, even by email or text. No photography or video recording.
7. No eating or drinking in the gallery, although an occasional discreet sip of water is acceptable to keep hydrated. There’s a water cooler in one of the corridors near the chamber (ask someone to show you) and another cooler in the main reception area of the Royal Court. You can try bringing a bottle of water with you but it may be taken from you at Security to be returned when you leave.
8. Make absolutely sure your phone is on silent – you could be asked to leave if it goes off.
11. For a copy of the agenda for the debate, called the Order Paper, go to gov.gg/statesmeetings. To help visitors understand terms like ‘relevé’ and ‘sursis’, gov.gg has produced a ‘Glossary of Guernsey parliamentary terms’.
12. There are no rules about what to wear – it’s important that members of the public can drop in when they are passing. But if you are coming specifically to watch, you may want to wear something smart (but comfortable).
13. To listen on the radio instead, tune in to 1116AM. Or to listen online, go to the BBC Guernsey homepage and look for ‘States of Guernsey meeting’. Or go to gov.gg/statesmeetings, click on the meeting date, then ‘Watch the States of Deliberation meeting online’ and listen live (or to a recording later) via Microsoft Teams. Guidance on how to use the gov.gg Teams system is here. Tip: If you are having trouble accessing the States Teams feed, try it on a device that you don’t usually use for Teams calls, eg your phone.
Access
Ask security staff at the entrance to the building for assistance if you have mobility or any other access needs.
There are two spaces for wheelchair users on the floor of the chamber. Members of the public are allowed to use the hearing assistance system, just pick up a headset from the front of the gallery.
If it would help to have some company on your first visit to the Gallery, we’re always happy to show new people the ropes. Join our Politics WhatsApp group and we’ll keep you posted as to when we are next going to be watching a States meeting. Just send your mobile number to hello@womeninpubliclife.gg and ask to be added to the group.
Who can vote
It doesn’t matter if you were born somewhere other than Guernsey or the UK, anyone can register to vote if they have been living here for the last TWO YEARS, whatever their nationality.
Alternatively, you can register to vote if you’ve lived here for five years in total (with breaks in between).
You only have to be 16 years old on, or before, the date of the election to vote in Guernsey.
Getting registered
Before you can start voting, you have to be officially added to the list of voters (known as the ‘electoral roll’). You need to do this well in advance of the election you want to vote in.
To be added to the list of voters (electoral roll), just complete THIS ONLINE REGISTRATION FORM.
Or print the form out and post it to: Electoral Roll Office, Sir Charles Frossard House, La Charroterie, St Peter Port, GY1 1FH.
More information
You can register to vote when you are 15 years old but you won’t actually be able to vote until you are 16.
The registration form uses the term ‘ordinarily resident’. That just means that mean that you live in Guernsey in the ordinary course of your day to day life.
The last general election was on 18 June 2025. The next general election will be in June 2029. But in the meantime, there is a by-election to fill one empty seat on Wednesday 29 April. More at byelection2026.gg.
You can also vote in any local parish elections (St Peter Port, Castel etc) for Douzeniers and Constables.
