In brief: A new website, the Jersey States Member Scorecard, has launched to track whether States Members are keeping their election promises. Created by communications professional Will Walter, it ranks all 49 Members by an accountability score and includes attendance records, evidence trails and an interactive Budget tool.
Holding Politicians to Their Word
If you have ever wondered whether your States Member actually did what they promised on the doorstep, help is now at hand. A new website, the Jersey States Member Scorecard, has been launched to track every promise made in Jersey election manifestos against every recorded vote taken in the States Assembly, Bailiwick Express reports.
The site was created by Will Walter, founder and managing director of Bridgehead Communications, and follows the launch of a similar Guernsey Deputy Scorecard in August. It covers all 49 Members and produces a full leaderboard ranked by an accountability score built from promises kept, weighted against broken and mixed verdicts, with Chamber attendance factored in as well.
Crucially, the evidence behind every verdict is published on the site, drawing on media reports, Members’ public statements and official States and government publications. That means voters can check the working, not just accept the conclusion.
Transparency as the Antidote
Walter is refreshingly direct about why he built it. “People trust their politicians less than they used to, and that isn’t unique to Jersey,” he said. “It’s the same story across most of the developed world. I don’t think complaining about it fixes anything. The real antidote to that disaffection is transparency. Show people exactly what was promised and exactly how it was voted on, and let them draw their own conclusions.”
He is also keen to frame the scorecard as an opportunity for Members rather than simply a stick to beat them with. “Most States Members do a lot of serious work that never makes a headline: reading a Budget line by line, sitting through a long debate, actually delivering on a manifesto promise nobody was watching,” he said. “This gives them a place to put that record in front of people. If you kept your word, you should be able to point to a page that proves it.”
Any Member who believes a verdict is wrong can formally challenge it, and the challenge will appear on their page regardless of whether it changes the ruling. That is a sensible safeguard, giving the process a degree of fairness that pure crowdsourced accountability tools often lack.
More Than a Scorecard
Beyond the voting tracker, the website comes with a range of additional features. Each Member has a full individual profile, and there is a lighthearted “Top of the Rocks” section where visitors can vote for the best political soundbite of the current term. There is also an interactive Budget tool that lets readers attempt to close the government’s own operating deficit themselves, which should keep a few spreadsheet enthusiasts busy on a rainy Jersey evening.
A media reach page tracks how the Assembly’s record is being covered by the island’s press, adding another layer of scrutiny to the overall picture.
Walter has broader ambitions for the platform. “In time, I’d like this to grow into a platform where politicians and the public on both islands can put their view on any policy question,” he said, citing examples ranging from ambulance waiting times to critiques of the scorecard itself. “If someone genuinely believes that, they should be able to say so on the site itself.”
Source: Bailiwick Express
