What a few weeks it has been! After seeing our 38 new States members officially sworn in, we now also have our new committees in place and, despite the official summer break, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that those committees have hit the ground running.

Our congratulations go to all the Presidents, Vice Presidents and committee members, as well as the whole of the States Assembly, which has – so far – shown a collegiate approach to organising itself and a willingness to get on and get things done.  It is encouraging that the decision taken by the outgoing Policy & Resources Committee to buy Leale’s Yard is being progressed and we hope for more bold decisions like this in the coming weeks and months.

Future Guernsey was founded on a desire to professionalise politics and move away from the inertia that has characterised recent years, and – even in these early days – there are plenty of green shoots of collaboration and action to get excited about. We’re optimistic that we’re seeing a real shift towards delivery, accountability and integrity. That is what the electorate said they wanted, after all!

We were delighted to see that several candidates who supported our manifesto – and others who had a significant hand in writing the manifesto – were successfully elected and are now in positions which match their skillset. Their roles at the heart of government give our manifesto the very best chance of being the blueprint we always hoped it would become.

The successful candidates elected include the members of Forward Guernsey – Rhona Humphreys, Tom Rylatt and Gavin St Pier – as well as the President of the new Housing Committee, Steve Williams, who was deeply involved in drafting of the housing element of our manifesto. As our most pressing issue, this was the bedrock of the manifesto and, like the rest of the document, was drawn up in conjunction with stakeholders in the community. We hope this can now be used as an actionable plan to get spades in the ground and begin building more homes.

Congratulations also go to Sally Rochester, who was integral in delivering the climate transition element of the manifesto, and who has fittingly been elected to the role of Vice President of Environment & Infrastructure. Not forgetting of course Dr George Oswald, who helped lead the creation of our strategy for health and who is now the President of Health & Social Care.

In these early weeks, we have been delighted to see our first manifesto pledge fulfilled. We highlighted the need to scrap the tax loophole allowing non-commercial shareholder loans to defer tax due on income rolled up in Guernsey companies taxed at the standard rate of 0%. Although that loophole was closed in the dying days of the last States by the outgoing Policy & Resources Committee, there is no doubt that our manifesto helped shift the policy position on this issue.

Our manifesto also suggested that, rather than just accepting GST+ in the form voted through by the previous States of Deliberation, a stepped approach was required, including making provision for public expenditure savings, closing tax loopholes and viewing other fiscal options. We suggested that this work could be undertaken, and a plan brought before the States by Spring 2026 – and that seems to be overwhelmingly in favour within the new cohort of States’ members.

Along with many other voices in our community, Future Guernsey always made clear that this term was going to be ‘make or break’ for the States. There is clearly much to achieve and a need to be realistic and pragmatic. However, optimism is one of our founding values, and we will never apologise for that because, fundamentally, we believe in Guernsey, and we believe in islanders.

Thanks for joining us on this journey to what we hope will be a better future for each and every one of us. We look forward to the next chapter.  Future Guernsey was founded and launched with the aspiration to be an enduring organisation and therefore, we hope that you will continue to encourage and support us, as we have established beyond doubt that success is a team effort.