# 2016 Guernsey general election

The 2016 Guernsey general election was held on 27 April 2016 to elect 38 members of the States of Guernsey who will serve until 2020.
There was a by-election in October 2016 to fill a vacancy in the district of Vale.

## Electoral system

Following the 2012 general election, it was decided to reduce the number of seats from 45 to 38. This resulted in reductions to the number of seats in most electoral districts, although the districts themselves remained unchanged. The members of the States of Guernsey were elected via plurality-at-large voting in seven districts, with each district electing either five or six members.
A new electoral roll was drawn up, with 22,408 people registered to vote by 4 November 2015. The total passed 25,000 by 7 January 2016 and rose to 27,000 on 15 February, before reaching 30,320 when registration closed, higher than the 29,745 who registered for the 2012 elections.

## Campaign

Prospective candidates started to register by filing their nominations at the Bailiff's Chambers on 21 March and had until 31 March 2016 to file nomination forms. There are no political parties; all candidates stood as non-partisans. Candidates could apply for a grant of up to £600 for the production and distribution of manifestos. A total of 81 candidates stood for the 38 seats.
Hustings meetings took place at a number of locations on various dates in April.

## Results

20 deputies kept their seats, 4 former deputies were re-elected and 14 new deputies were elected. 10 deputies, including 4 ministers, lost their seats.
26 men and 12 women were elected as deputies. The previous assembly had just 5 women deputies.
21,803 voted (up from 20,459), representing 71.9% (up from 71.4%) of those who had registered to vote; 93,085 votes were cast (down from 95,612) due to fewer seats.

### Castel

Castel district :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | Richard Graham | 2,321 | 71.2% |
| | Independent | Chris Green (incumbent) | 1,868 | 57.3% |
| | Independent | Barry Paint (incumbent) | 1,720 | 52.7% |
| | Independent | Mark Dorey (incumbent) | 1,495 | 45.8% |
| | Independent | Jonathan Le Tocq (incumbent) | 1,342 | 41.1% |
| | Independent | Darren Duquemin (incumbent) | 1,025 | 31.4% |
| | Independent | Ross Le Brun | 834 | 25.6% |
| | Independent | Sandra James | 827 | 25.4% |
| | Independent | Hunter Adam | 719 | 22.0% |
| | Independent | Leon Gallienne | 619 | 19.0% |
| | Independent | Neil Shepherd | 601 | 18.4% |
| | Independent | Russell Le Conte | 241 | 7.4% |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 13,612 | |
| Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | 15 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,262 | 73% |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 4,469 | |

### South East

South East district :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | Heidi Soulsby (incumbent) | 1,925 | 57.2% |
| | Independent | Lindsay De Sausmarez | 1,808 | 53.8% |
| | Independent | Peter Roffey | 1,727 | 51.4% |
| | Independent | Rob Prow | 1,531 | 45.5% |
| | Independent | Victoria Oliver | 1,261 | 37.5% |
| | Independent | Mike O'Hara (incumbent) | 1,141 | 33.9% |
| | Independent | Robert Sillars (incumbent) | 953 | 28.3% |
| | Independent | Robin Le Prevost | 889 | 26.4% |
| | Independent | Mike Hadley (incumbent) | 799 | 23.8% |
| | Independent | Greg Archer | 755 | 22.5% |
| | Independent | Stephen Prout | 722 | 21.5% |
| | Independent | John Titmuss | 515 | 15.3% |
| | Independent | Brian Breban | 216 | 6.4% |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 14,242 | |
| Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | 20 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,363 | 73% |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 4,605 | |

### St Peter Port North

St Peter Port North district :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | John Gollop (incumbent) | 1,472 | 55.8% |
| | Independent | Charles Parkinson (incumbent) | 1,379 | 52.3% |
| | Independent | Lester Queripel (incumbent) | 1,199 | 45.4% |
| | Independent | Michelle Le Clerc (incumbent) | 1,147 | 43.5% |
| | Independent | Marc Leadbeater | 855 | 32.4% |
| | Independent | Joe Mooney | 799 | 30.3% |
| | Independent | Caroline McManus | 765 | 29.0% |
| | Independent | Timothy Bush | 716 | 27.1% |
| | Independent | Rhoderick Matthews | 704 | 26.7% |
| | Independent | Lucia Pagliarone | 703 | 26.6% |
| | Independent | Ivan Rihoy | 698 | 26.4% |
| | Independent | Michael Henderson | 656 | 24.9% |
| | Independent | Rob Harnish | 605 | 22.9% |
| | Independent | Lilita Kruze | 560 | 21.2% |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 12,258 | |
| Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | 4 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,639 | 65% |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 4,059 | |

### St Peter Port South

St Peter Port South district :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | Peter Ferbrache | 1,314 | 63.5% |
| | Independent | Jan Kuttelwascher (incumbent) | 1,109 | 53.6% |
| | Independent | Dawn Tindall | 853 | 41.2% |
| | Independent | Barry Brehaut (incumbent) | 839 | 40.6% |
| | Independent | Rhian Tooley | 839 | 40.6% |
| | Independent | John Halker | 706 | 34.1% |
| | Independent | Neil Forman | 617 | 29.8% |
| | Independent | Mike Garrett | 600 | 29.0% |
| | Independent | Bernard Flouquet | 598 | 28.9% |
| | Independent | Ray Marshall | 451 | 21.8% |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 7,926 | |
| Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | 9 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,068 | 63% |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 3,267 | |

### St Sampson

St Sampson district :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | Lyndon Trott (incumbent) | 2,014 | 57.4% |
| | Independent | Paul Le Pelley (incumbent) | 1,875 | 53.4% |
| | Independent | Jennifer Merrett | 1,664 | 47.4% |
| | Independent | Gavin St Pier (incumbent) | 1,543 | 44.0% |
| | Independent | Jane Stephens | 1,400 | 39.9% |
| | Independent | Carl Meerveld | 1,377 | 39.2% |
| | Independent | Martyn Roussel | 1,167 | 33.3% |
| | Independent | Sam Maindonald | 1,088 | 31.0% |
| | Independent | Kevin Stewart (incumbent) | 927 | 26.4% |
| | Independent | Karen Solway | 843 | 24.0% |
| | Independent | Michael Beaumont | 795 | 22.7% |
| | Independent | Tony Webber | 528 | 15.0% |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 15,221 | |
| Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | 12 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,509 | 78% |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 4,503 | |

### Vale

Vale district :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | Matt Fallaize (incumbent) | 2,758 | 73.1% |
| | Independent | Dave Jones (incumbent) | 2,511 | 66.5% |
| | Independent | Mary Lowe (incumbent) | 2,507 | 66.4% |
| | Independent | Laurie Queripel (incumbent) | 2,150 | 57.0% |
| | Independent | Jeremy Smithies | 1,684 | 44.6% |
| | Independent | Sarah Hansmann Rouxel | 1,653 | 43.8% |
| | Independent | Garry Collins (incumbent) | 1,362 | 36.1% |
| | Independent | Neil Inder | 1,332 | 35.3% |
| | Independent | Simon De La Mare | 685 | 18.2% |
| | Independent | Trevor Hockey | 615 | 16.3% |
| | Independent | William Newman | 86 | 2.3% |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 17,343 | |
| Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | 15 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,774 | 74% |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 5,125 | |

### West

West district :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | Al Brouard (incumbent) | 2,104 | 66.0% |
| | Independent | Andrea Dudley-Owen | 1,940 | 60.9% |
| | Independent | Emilie Yerby | 1,680 | 52.7% |
| | Independent | David de Lisle (incumbent) | 1,550 | 48.6% |
| | Independent | Shane Langlois | 1,214 | 38.1% |
| | Independent | Rick Lowe | 1,188 | 37.3% |
| | Independent | Arrun Wilkie (incumbent) | 1,157 | 36.3% |
| | Independent | Yvonne Burford (incumbent) | 1,033 | 32.4% |
| | Independent | Martin Petit | 617 | 19.4% |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 12,483 | |
| Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | 11 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,188 | 74% |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 4,292 | |

## Post-election controversy

Six male candidates who had failed to be elected filed a letter of complaint, alleging that the election was illegal as the States of Guernsey had provided funding to encourage more women to stand for election and to provide them with assistance by running a course. The complaint was rejected on the basis that the funds had been provided and spent before any candidates had put their names forward for the election, therefore they did not assist any 'candidates'. They subsequently asked the UK government to investigate the election.