Meet the Constable

Alasdair Crosby met the Constable of St Mary, John Le Bailly

There cannot be too many States Members who have had to visit the Falkland Islands as part of their official duties. Nevertheless, both the past and the present Constable of St Mary have done so.

Constable John Le Bailly, then a member of the States Public Accounts Committee, was chosen in 2019 to travel to the Falklands to set up a similar committee there.

The visit was organised by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. It turned out he was the only politician in the group, which otherwise comprised UK civil servants. As Jersey’s representative, he had to do the honours with Falkands’ dignitaries, and make a speech at the Falklands’ annual Liberation Dinner. The trouble was, nobody had told him that he should prepare a speech, so, unexpectedly called to his feet and ad libbing furiously, he was able to compare and contrast the experience of Jersey and the Falklands during wartime Occupation and Liberation. The trip went well, a Public Accounts Committee was set up and John returned to St Mary - a slightly warmer place in June than the sub-Antarctic Falkland Islands in their mid-winter.

The Constable was being interviewed at his home - a secluded property down a quiet country lane. He started adult life in 1964 as a carpenter’s apprentice and joiner. Throughout his career he was always self-employed in the building trade until retirement from business ten years ago.

He is a keen shot; in St Ouen he was a member of the Leoville Rifle Club and then formed the Leoville Pistol Club. He spent so much time on the indoor range that he got lead poisoning because of the dust generated. So, he turned to clay shooting, which he still enjoys occasionally.

It has been 40 years since he became a St Mary parishioner. What drew him to the parish’s political life?

“Constable John

Le Bailly, then a member of the States Public Accounts Committee, was chosen in 2019 to travel to the Falklands to set up a similar committee there

“I don’t see how

the Constables can join a party, because we’re supposed to represent the people

‘It was through shooting,’ he said. ‘I met Edwin Godel, the then Constable, at St Mary’s Rifle Range. He told me that he was looking for some Constable’s Officers. I said I was far too busy and I was able to keep that excuse up for about two years, but in the end, I had to give in. Basically, I became a C.O. to keep him quiet!

‘Six months later, there was a vacancy for a Centenier and I was told I fitted the bill.’ ‘When I gave up as Centenier in 2011, I stood successfully as a Deputy. I stood for Constable in 2014, and had two goes before being elected in 2018.’

Before then he had been ‘nabbed’ as a churchwarden - a different but complementary form of parish life.

Now that so many States Members have decided to become party animals, he is dead set against joining one or other of the political parties that seem to be springing up.

‘I don’t see how the Constables can join a party, because we’re supposed to represent the people, so if we get divided up into, say, four parties, how can I represent four different parties? I have to be independent. If I’m aligned to one party, I’ve got to stick to the manifesto, which means disregarding 75% of the electorate. I just don’t see how a party system would work these days.

‘In the USA the President has two terms of four years and then he has to stand down. There should be a similar system for Jersey’s Constables, otherwise you never introduce new thinking or new blood. And in the second term, it would give parishioners a chance to look around for a successor… and there would be no animosity between the sitting Constable and the contender, which, in a small parish like St Mary, can be difficult.

‘Surely we should be working together and not against each other? That is the only way any parish system is going to survive – and that is why I find it very difficult to accept the party system. Jersey is too small. If we have parties, then the party system has to rule the parish. It becomes like a council in the UK.’

‘Four or more parties in St Mary - absurd!’ he snorted.

He continued: ‘Some States Members are very keen on the idea, because they think that is the only way the States can work effectively. But if you speak to the electorate, you will see that nobody wants political parties. The Hospital, housing and immigration are the three things most people worry about.’ Similarly, he deplores the assimilation of the parishes into constituencies: ‘How do you choose new blood, when, for instance, you will have six sitting States Members already in place in this new constituency of St Ouen, St Peter and St Mary?’

“In the USA the

President has two terms of four years and then he has to stand down. There should be a similar system for Jersey’s Constables, otherwise you never introduce new thinking or new blood

Does retirement beckon with so many political changes in the offing next year?

‘Certainly not,’ he replied. ‘I’ve never been busier - and I enjoy being busy.’