2 days ago
How candidates were rated across eight BBC election events
Across eight BBC events, candidates in Guernsey's general election were questioned and tested - everything from their body language was analysed, to their ability to think on their feet - while one voter rated them all out of 10 on their Bailey attended all but one of the events: "I have learned who can think on their feet, who has well structured answers and who I'm going to vote for."A total of 78 out of the 82 candidates standing at Guernsey's general election took part, with only Bruno Kay-Mouat, Dicky Parmar, Tim Carré and Chris Machon not attending. The sessions saw potential politicians give a 90-second pitch to the public, before answering three questions from the audience and a meet-and-greet with voters.
The ratings out of 10 came from Rachel Rose, who attended every single one of our Your Voice, Your Vote events, and rated the candidates on their answers, body language and ability to think on their feet. For her, the top performers over the evenings were Jayne Ozanne, Simon Fairclough, Paul Luxon, Rob Curgenven, Tom Rylatt and Dr Andy Sloan.
Each candidate on the panel was given 45 seconds to answer the questions posed to them by the audience, which ranged from how would you address bed blocking at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital, to what could be done to better support charities. Some questions left candidates flumoxed, with one admitting she could not name any local charities, whilte another said he did not know what was happening to the Sixth Form Centre. Larry Melchick was another regular face in the crowd, which ranged from 80-130 people every night. He said the events convinced him to vote for some candidates and put him off a few others: "I think that it's fair to say that this is a good way to see whether people are impressive or not. "That's an easy way of saying it."To actually hear them speak, to see how quickly they're able to answer, how much they've thought about the issues, it's a great forum because you're giving them a very concise amount of time."A number of candidates after the event said they would have preferred to have had more time to answer than 45 seconds, with some asking for 90 Melchick disagreed: "It means that they have to have thought about the issues."
Jeanne and Peter Langford made it to six out of eight of the events and, between them, were picked to ask three questions across the nights. The two missed events meant extra homework for Ms Langford: "I'm very aware of the ones I missed on the two nights I couldn't come so I'm going to take particular notice of their manifestos."It's been fascinating to see nearly everyone."On the nights Ms Langford did make it to Les Cotils she focussed on how the candidates presented themselves and how they could make an argument. "You have got to be able to stand up and convince people. "I want leaders who will actually be prepared to stand up and say loudly what they think, like about GST, which was never presented as positively as it should have been in our lives."
Last year Guernsey's States agreed a package of tax reforms including a 5% GST (goods and services tax), a lower rate of income tax for earnings under £30,000 and reforms to social security Langford's husband Peter said he had changed his mind on who he would vote for after having heard some of the answers from candidates. Filmaker Lars Janssen missed all but one of the events: "I think for me personally it was mainly interesting to see a lot of the new faces, but I was also kind of curious about the current deputies."I find it more important to see the body language opposed to what they're saying."
The way the candidates interacted before and after the event was one of the main attractions for Mr Janssen: "We had several people at a table that we kind of know, they're not really fans of each other. So it was sometimes interesting to see the dynamic."Following complaints about the behaviour of States members in the last assembly, he was focussed on candidates he believed could work together."I hope this States can get more done."
Retired civil servant Isabel de Menezes came to most of the events and said she found it helpful to decide who would be getting her vote: "It's helped me to understand who is going to be able to stand up in assembly and speak. That's very important to me."For Isabel, the breakout sessions at the end were the most useful part as it allowed her to pin candidates down on their policy positions."It's allowed me to see who was comfortable answering those questions and then to talk to the candidates afterwards and go into a bit more detail about what I want to know about them."
