AN INDEPENDENT RECORD OF EVERY PROMISE MADE IN THE STATES OF JERSEY
Visit the Guernsey edition →Connétable for St Mary · Independent
Member of Comité des Connétable
Robert David Johnson was first elected to the States Assembly in 2014 as Deputy of St Mary, serving two terms before being elected Connétable of St Mary in 2022 and re-elected to that seat in 2026. He chaired the Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel from 2016 to 2018, and chaired both the Economic and International Affairs Panel and the Legislation Advisory Panel from 2018 to 2022. He served as Lead Member of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly from 2018 to 2026 and has been a member of the Comité des Connétables since 2022.
For the 2026–2030 term, Johnson's campaign focused on parish accessibility, fiscal responsibility and key island-wide priorities. His principal pledges included maintaining daily attendance at the Parish Hall, raising parishioners' concerns directly with ministers and departments, and pushing for reductions in public expenditure on staff and consultants. On broader policy, he committed to supporting the finance industry while promoting diversification of other sectors, prioritising delivery of the new hospital with appropriate staff recruitment, and backing affordable housing in the parish while opposing large greenfield developments.
Johnson is a solicitor with more than forty years of professional experience, a background he credits with shaping his ability to consider multiple perspectives and reach independent decisions.
Sources
—
States participation
4
Votes expected
Have your say
Public commentary and ratings from readers on how Robert David Johnson is doing. This is not Robert David Johnson’s own response.
No comments yet. Be the first to rate this member’s term so far.
Comments open soon. Sign-in for this feature is still being configured.
Attendance
The States Assembly records a reason against every non-vote, so being ill, off-island, on parental leave or barred by a declared interest can be told apart from simply not turning up. Absences with an accepted reason are removed from both sides of the rate rather than held against the member.
4 votes in 2026–2030 Assembly so far — fewer than the 10 needed before this scorecard will publish a participation rate. The record to date:
Manifesto
Grouped by policy area. Each promise carries the recorded States Assembly votes that test it, and whether this member voted to deliver — open any vote for the motion and the reasoning. A vote counts against a promise only where it plainly contradicts it; where a member voted against one particular measure but the breach is arguable, the vote is shown and set aside rather than counted. Promises no recorded vote has borne on yet are marked as untested rather than scored.
1 promise · 0 kept
No recorded States Assembly vote bears on this area yet.
Candidate will support affordable housing in the parish while opposing large greenfield developments.
“I recognise the need for affordable homes in the parish but not in the form of large greenfield developments”
No recorded vote bears on this promise yet, and no delivery verdict has been generated.
1 promise · 0 kept
No recorded States Assembly vote bears on this area yet.
Candidate will prioritise delivery of the new hospital and recruitment of healthcare staff, including accommodation provision.
“Priority to be given to new hospital and recruitment of appropriate staff, with particular regard to accommodation.”
No recorded vote bears on this promise yet, and no delivery verdict has been generated.
2 promises · 0 kept
No recorded States Assembly vote bears on this area yet.
Candidate will push for further reductions in public expenditure on employees, consultants and other costs.
“Further steps need to be taken to rein in the level of expenditure in terms of Employees/consultants and other savings”
No recorded vote bears on this promise yet, and no delivery verdict has been generated.
Candidate will advocate for supporting the finance industry while also promoting diversification of other industries.
“it is imperative that States Members understand the ongoing requirements for the sector to maintain its position in the international marketplace but not at the expense of expansion and diversification of other industries.”
No recorded vote bears on this promise yet, and no delivery verdict has been generated.
3 promises · 0 kept
No recorded States Assembly vote bears on this area yet.
Candidate commits to daily attendance at the Parish Hall to remain accessible to parishioners.
“Subject to States commitments, I daily attend the Parish Hall where I am readily available to meet parishioners”
No recorded vote bears on this promise yet, and no delivery verdict has been generated.
Candidate will continue cooperating with the Community Centre to support parish community initiatives.
“I continue to co-operate with the Community Centre in support of initiatives for the benefit of the parish community”
No recorded vote bears on this promise yet, and no delivery verdict has been generated.
Candidate will continue to raise parishioners' specific concerns with relevant Ministers and Departments.
“I will continue to raise with the relevant Minister or Department specific concerns of parishioners.”
No recorded vote bears on this promise yet, and no delivery verdict has been generated.
Manifesto · Closed term
Connétable for St Mary · Independent. This term has closed — shown here as this member's earlier record, not the live one. A vote counts against a promise only where it plainly contradicts it; an arguable breach is shown and set aside rather than counted.
50%
Kept rate
97%
States participation
8
Promises tracked
97%
of the 875 votes they were expected to cast in 2022–2026 Assembly
Set aside from the rate · 16
These 16 ballots are removed from both sides of the rate, not counted as absences. Each is a vote the member either could not cast or was barred from casting. Reasons are the States Assembly’s own, as published in its voting record.
2 promises · 1 kept
10recorded votes
5 Pour · 2 Contre · 3 away
Candidate will oppose large-scale developments on greenfield sites.
“I oppose large developments on greenfield sites”
2 recorded votes test this promise
2 awayVoting Pour delivers this
The St Helier Country Park amendment sought to designate land as parkland rather than allow development, supporting protection of open/greenfield land from large-scale development.
Voting Pour delivers this
The West of Island Planning Framework directly governs planning policy for western parishes including St Mary, bearing directly on the control of large-scale greenfield development in those areas.
Related votes (shown for context; too partial or indirect to count towards the score)
The Supplementary Planning Guidance on Parking Strategy if rejected could mean less restrictive planning conditions, but the connection to opposing greenfield development specifically is indirect.
Conservation Area regulations protect designated land from inappropriate development, indirectly supporting opposition to large-scale greenfield development.
Development levies can act as a financial disincentive to large-scale greenfield developments, tangentially supporting the promise to oppose such developments.
Candidate will support affordable housing in the parish while opposing large greenfield developments.
“I recognise the need for affordable homes in the parish but not in the form of large greenfield developments”
8 recorded votes test this promise
5 Pour · 2 Contre · 1 awayVoting Pour delivers this
Development levies (parts a and b) would impose charges on new development, a mechanism that moderately advances affordable housing and discourages speculative large developments.
Voting Pour delivers this
Investing stamp duty uplift from second homes into first-time buyer funds directly supports affordable housing access, a core element of this promise.
Considered and set aside: voting this way is not clearly a breach of the promise. The promise concerned opposing large greenfield developments while supporting affordable housing, whereas this motion decided a specific funding mechanism (stamp duty revenue into first-time buyer funds), so voting against it is not a plain contradiction of the promise but rather a judgement about one particular financial instrument for affordable housing.
Voting Pour delivers this
The West of Island Planning Framework amendment to the Government Plan directly concerns planning policy for the western parishes including St Mary, bearing on greenfield development controls.
Voting Pour delivers this
The Social Rents Plan to Reduce Rental Stress amendment directly supports affordable housing access for tenants, bearing on the promise to support affordable housing.
Voting Pour delivers this
The Social Rental Plan to Reduce Rental Stress as amended directly advances affordable rented housing, consistent with the promise to support affordable housing.
Voting Pour delivers this
Increasing the assets/savings threshold for the Affordable Housing Gateway would widen access to affordable housing, directly advancing the affordable housing strand of this promise.
Considered and set aside: voting this way is not clearly a breach of the promise. The promise concerns opposing large greenfield developments while supporting affordable housing in principle, whereas the motion is about adjusting an assets and savings threshold for the Affordable Housing Gateway—a specific administrative/eligibility mechanism rather than a decision about greenfield development or housing location.
Voting Pour delivers this
An amendment on empty residential properties, if aimed at bringing them back into use, supports increasing housing supply and affordable housing availability.
Voting Pour delivers this
The motion requires affordable housing provision at the Waterfront, directly advancing the promise to support affordable housing in the parish/island context.
Related votes (shown for context; too partial or indirect to count towards the score)
The Le Squez amendment concerns a specific housing site, touching the broader promise to support affordable housing.
Considered and set aside: voting this way is not clearly a breach of the promise. The motion concerns a specific budget amendment relating to Le Squez, and without knowing whether this amendment directly funds greenfield development or affordable housing in the parish, voting against it cannot be clearly attributed to contradicting the promise to support affordable housing while opposing large greenfield developments.
Removing the stamp duty surcharge on second homes could disadvantage first-time buyers competing for housing, working against the affordable housing aspect of this promise.
Considered and set aside: this motion does not bear on the promise. The promise concerns affordable housing and opposing greenfield developments in the parish, while this motion is about stamp duty surcharges on second homes — a different policy instrument with only an indirect, inferential connection to housing affordability.
Removing the stamp duty surcharge on buy-to-let and second homes could increase competition for housing stock against first-time buyers, working against affordable housing goals.
2 promises · 0 kept
11recorded votes
6 Pour · 5 Contre
Candidate will oppose any quarry extension that results in the loss of agricultural land.
“I will continue to oppose any extension of the quarry resulting in loss of agricultural land”
As Deputy of St. Mary, David Johnson backed Senator Kristina Moore's 2021 amendment to remove the La Gigoulande Quarry extension into agricultural Field MY966 from the Draft Bridging Island Plan; the States voted heavily in favour of that amendment in March 2022 (Jersey Evening Post, March 2022), blocking the proposed extension. Throughout the 2022–2026 Assembly term, the field was not designated a safeguarded mineral site in the Bridging Island Plan 2022–2025, and no planning application for the extension was approved; when Granite Products resumed borehole drilling in October 2022, politicians including Johnson's neighbouring Connétables publicly reaffirmed their opposition. No evidence was found of Johnson departing from his stated position during the full term.
Candidate will support further steps to reduce public expenditure on employees, consultants and other costs.
“Further steps need to be taken to 'rein in' the level of expenditure in terms of employees/consultants and other savings.”
11 recorded votes test this promise
6 Pour · 5 ContreVoting Pour delivers this
States Employment Board Annual Reporting improves accountability for public employee costs, supporting the promise to reduce public expenditure on employees.
Voting Pour delivers this
Reporting of headcount and vacancies directly advances public scrutiny of government employee numbers, supporting the promise to reduce public expenditure on employees.
Voting Pour delivers this
An audit of government department vacancies directly supports identifying and reducing unnecessary employee costs, consistent with the promise to reduce public expenditure on employees.
Considered and set aside: voting this way is not clearly a breach of the promise. An audit of vacancies is a procedural/information-gathering step, and a member could reasonably vote against it while still genuinely pursuing the broader promise to reduce public expenditure on employees, for example by preferring a different mechanism or believing the audit unnecessary.
Voting Pour delivers this
A freeze on Public Health staff appointments directly reduces public expenditure on employees, a clear test of the promise to support further steps to reduce public expenditure on employees.
Voting Pour delivers this
Cabinet Office Expenditure Savings directly implements reductions in government costs, a direct test of the promise to support reducing public expenditure on employees, consultants and other costs.
Voting Pour delivers this
Saving on Jersey Business and Digital Jersey expenditure advances the promise to reduce public expenditure on consultants and other costs.
Considered and set aside: voting this way is not clearly a breach of the promise. The promise is a general directional commitment to reduce public expenditure, while this motion concerns one specific amendment to the Budget about Jersey Business and Digital Jersey savings, and a member could vote against this particular mechanism while still honestly pursuing the broader goal of expenditure reduction through other means.
Voting Pour delivers this
The amendment concerning a New Office (sixteenth amendment) in the Government Plan bears on government expenditure, consistent with the promise to reduce public expenditure on employees and other costs.
Considered and set aside: voting this way is not clearly a breach of the promise. The promise calls generally for reducing public expenditure on employees and consultants, but voting against one specific budget amendment concerning a "New Office" could reflect a judgement that this particular measure was not the right vehicle for that goal, rather than opposition to the principle of cost reduction.
Voting Pour delivers this
The Council of Ministers' amendment reduces net revenue expenditure across departmental heads to balance the Budget, materially bearing on the promise to reduce public expenditure.
Voting Pour delivers this
Curbing Growth of Public Sector through an end-to-end review of government processes is a direct test of the promise to support further steps to reduce public expenditure on employees, consultants and other costs.
Voting Pour delivers this
A freeze on Public Health staff appointments in the Government Plan directly advances the promise to reduce public expenditure on employees.
Voting Pour delivers this
Freezing government spending at 2025 levels is a direct, substantive step to reduce public expenditure, exactly what this promise commits to.
Related votes (shown for context; too partial or indirect to count towards the score)
The Transform Project amendment concerns government transformation spending which could reduce or increase long-term public expenditure, touching the promise to support reducing costs.
Adding administrative support funding to Statistics Jersey would increase public expenditure on employees/consultants, running against the promise to reduce such costs.
Considered and set aside: voting this way is not clearly a breach of the promise. The promise is a general directional commitment to reduce public expenditure on employees and consultants, but this motion concerns a specific funding decision about administrative support for Statistics Jersey, and voting in favour of that funding could be consistent with the promise if the member judged the expenditure justified or necessary rather than wasteful.
A Government Plan amendment rejected here may have borne on expenditure savings, touching the promise to reduce public expenditure, though the specific content is not fully clear from the title alone.
4 promises · 1 kept
6recorded votes
5 Pour · 1 Contre
Candidate commits to supporting the honorary system in the parish.
“I commit to supporting the honorary system which is at the heart of parish life”
David Johnson served as Connétable of St Mary throughout the 2022–2026 term, maintaining continuous membership of the Comité des Connétables and overseeing the St Mary Honorary Police, with regular elections for Centeniers and Vingteniers conducted under his watch. The honorary system in St Mary remained fully operational during the term, with the parish administration page confirming active honorary officer rosters including Centeniers elected in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2026. Johnson's commitment to the parish role was reinforced when he reversed a planned retirement and stood again for re-election in June 2026, citing his ongoing dedication to parish and States-level work.
Candidate will encourage and support the formation of community groups for parish initiatives.
“I would encourage and support the formation of groups to take forward particular initiatives for the benefit of the parish community”
6 recorded votes test this promise
5 Pour · 1 ContreVoting Pour delivers this
Acquiring the Seaside Café site at Grève de Lecq for transfer to the National Trust supports a community asset for parish and community use, consistent with the promise to encourage community initiatives.
Voting Pour delivers this
Part c of the Grève de Lecq café acquisition supports community access to a parish amenity, consistent with encouraging community groups and parish initiatives.
Voting Pour delivers this
Part d of the Grève de Lecq café acquisition completes the transfer to the National Trust for community benefit, supporting the promise to encourage community groups and parish initiatives.
Voting Pour delivers this
Negotiating purchase of the Grève de Lecq café site for community benefit directly supports parish community initiatives, consistent with the promise to encourage and support such groups.
Voting Pour delivers this
The amendment to negotiate purchase of the Grève de Lecq café site for community benefit supports a parish community initiative, consistent with the promise.
Voting Pour delivers this
This vote on the Grève de Lecq café site acquisition supports preserving a community/parish amenity, consistent with the promise to support formation of community groups for parish initiatives.
Considered and set aside: this motion does not bear on the promise. The promise concerned encouraging community groups for parish initiatives generally, while the motion was specifically about public acquisition and transfer of a café site to the National Trust for Jersey — a property transaction that does not directly bear on forming or supporting community groups.
Candidate commits to basing their daily office at the Parish Hall to be accessible to parishioners.
“My daily office would be at the Parish Hall so as to be readily available to meet parishioners”
Johnson's own 2026 re-election manifesto on vote.je (June 2026) stated that 'subject to States commitments, I daily attend the Parish Hall where I am readily available to meet parishioners,' implying the practice was maintained throughout the 2022–2026 term. The Parish of St Mary website (stmary.je) lists the Parish Hall at La Rue du Pont as the active administrative base for the Connétable, with a direct telephone number for Johnson. No independent reporting contradicted this, though the primary evidence is Johnson's own re-election claim; no third-party source specifically corroborated or denied the daily attendance practice.
Candidate will continue to raise parishioners' specific concerns with relevant Ministers or Departments.
“As when Deputy, I will continue to raise with the relevant Minister or Department specific concerns of parishioners.”
Connétable David Johnson served the full 2022–2026 term, was present and active in the States Assembly (including sitting on the Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel from February 2024), and was re-elected in June 2026 on a manifesto that explicitly repeated the same commitment to raise parishioners' concerns with relevant Ministers and Departments. His 2026 campaign page on vote.je and Jersey Evening Post coverage of his decision to stand again both confirm ongoing parish engagement throughout the term. However, no independent, case-specific reporting of particular parishioner concerns raised with Ministers was found via publicly available sources, making it impossible to verify the substantive exercise of this conduct promise beyond the structural indicators of attendance and re-election.
Robert David Johnson’s record changes with every States Assembly sitting. Follow us on LinkedIn and we will tell you when it does.
Follow on LinkedIn