Back in October last year when Value Jersey launched as a “movement”, I happened to meet one of the founders down at La Pulente. I congratulated him (tongue in cheek) on the launch of his new political party and he replied “It’s not a party. It’s not a party”. We had a brief conversation, but he was still repeating that line as he walked off down the beach.
The non-party that is Value Jersey is operating in a grey area that has caused me increasing concern as the election campaign has proceeded. Even though there have been repeated statements from Value Jersey and from Value Jersey aligned candidates, attempting to clarify various issues, each statement serves only to raise more questions.
Let’s start with a basic question. Who are the candidates that are formally aligned with Value Jersey? This should be the easiest thing in the world to establish. I’m not talking about vague references to supporting Value Jersey’s principles, I’m talking about whether there is an official involvement. The candidate nomination form gave independent candidates two options: either to declare themselves fully independent, or to declare “I am an independent candidate involved with the following political movement/group.” Presumably all those candidates who have endorsed Value Jersey will have ticked the “movement” box and put “Value Jersey” in the box. I know at least one who told me they did. But we don’t know all the candidates that ticked the box because despite me formally writing to the JEA to ask for this information to be made public, I am told that this cannot be done without each candidate’s consent (data protection) and apparently the candidates (or some of them) are refusing to give consent.
Really? What on earth is there to hide? Are some candidates embarrassed about being seen to be linked to Value Jersey? And as far as the JEA is concerned, what was the point of having a question on the nomination form to establish if a candidate is involved with a political movement if the names of those who ticked it are to be a state secret? It makes no sense to me.
There are political implications that flow from the ambiguity around Value Jersey aligned candidates. To what extent will Value Jersey candidates form a voting block (or even a party) after the election? It is notable that although several senior figures that were involved in setting up Value Jersey distanced themselves from the movement when they became candidates, they did not express any actual disagreement with Value Jersey. I surmise their main reason for distancing was likely to be that they feared that too close an association with an organisation that smelt like a political party would damage their electoral chances. Perhaps that is why some candidates are unwilling to disclose whether they ticked the “movement” box on their nomination form.
Whatever the reason, it is to my mind absolutely untenable that the electorate should be denied knowledge about whether a candidate is involved with a political movement.
Jonathan Renouf 2026 election campaign 