Serena Kersten

The manifesto addresses cost of living, government efficiency, childcare, preventative health and parish infrastructure across several policy areas, which gives it a reasonable breadth. The connecting theme is that Jersey is underperforming and requires a change of approach, which goes beyond defending the status quo. However, the individual commitments are framed at a high level, and the manifesto does not set out a transformative reform programme with a named investment envelope or cross-portfolio plan.

The manifesto names two relatively specific pledges: restoring PE teachers in primary schools and converting parish hubs into spaces for health, wellbeing and connection. The remaining commitments, covering competition and cheaper providers, government waste, affordable childcare and preventative health investment, are directional and lack figures, dates or named mechanisms. The three headline priorities attributed to a group platform are listed by category only, without further detail.

The manifesto asserts that increasing competition will bring down everyday costs and that reducing government waste will fund better services, but no mechanism is specified for either. The pledge on affordable childcare is presented without reference to how it would be funded or structured. The two more concrete pledges, PE teachers and parish hub modernisation, are plausible in principle but carry no indication of how the costs involved would be met.

The Scorecard records Kersten as holding posts as Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development, Assistant Minister for Infrastructure, and Assistant Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning, as well as a seat on the Privileges and Procedures Committee. The pledge to restore PE teachers in primary schools falls within the same subject area as the education post; the parish hub and infrastructure commitments fall within the same subject area as the infrastructure post. The remaining pledges, covering competition, government waste and childcare, would require the support of an Assembly majority of 25 and are not within the subject areas of the recorded posts.

A substantial portion of the manifesto consists of statements about the need for teamwork, accountability and a new approach to government rather than specific commitments. The opening section draws on the candidate's sporting background to frame a general case for change. The closing section calls for a team of independents working together and for Jersey to be a place where people thrive, but contains no additional specific pledges. These passages account for a notable share of the total text.