Public comment storyboard
Public reaction to local politics · 2022 to October 2026
What islanders said in public when politics came up, and how it moved through eleven events.
12,018
public comments classified
5,430
about politics
58
months, Jan 2022 to Oct 2026
The question
We read public Facebook comments under posts from seven local pages and groups, from January 2022 to October 2026, and labelled the tone of each one as positive, neutral or negative. We also marked which comments were about deputies, the States and politics.
The private community groups are not included. The most-commented political posts of each month make up the sample, so heated threads count for more. The limits are set out at the end.
The verdict
73.5%
of the 5,430 comments about politics were negative. Only 8.7% were positive.
33%
negative on everything else the same pages attract. Politics is about 2.2 times as negative.
3 v 1
median likes on a negative comment against a positive one. 42% of negative comments earned five or more likes, against 27% of positive ones.
Tone by subject
All comments (12,018)
51% negative · 28% neutral · 21% positive
About politics (5,430)
74% negative · 18% neutral · 9% positive
Everything else (6,588)
33% negative · 36% neutral · 31% positive
By source, the share of political comments that were negative ran from 68% on BBC Guernsey to 81% on Island FM. That spread is small beside the 40-point gap between politics and everything else.
Topics inside politics
GST and tax is the biggest topic, a quarter of all political comments, and at 76% negative it sits near the political average. The sharpest comments are about delivery, spending and trust. Reading across, the complaint is as much about whether the States spends well and keeps its word as about the rate.
Share of comments that were negative, by topic
Delivery failures · 3% of political, IT, tax returns, 'shambles'
92%
Spending and waste · 8% of political
89%
Trust and mandate · 7% of political
80%
Housing and cost of living · 8% of political
79%
Pay and pensions · 5% of political
77%
GST and tax · 25% of political, the biggest topic
76%
Transport and ferries · 8% of political
74%
Environment and planning · 2% of political
71%
Topics are keyword groups and overlap, so a comment can count under more than one. The figures show direction, not precise shares.
Jan 2022 to Oct 2026
negative, 3-month average positive
Four years, one line
Among the three pages with full coverage, the negative share of political comments was 2022 77% · 2023 81% · 2024 72% · 2025 67% · 2026 70%. Scroll to follow eleven events along the line.
Peak: 86% in Jan 2023 (3-month average). Low: 45% in Jul 2025, the weeks after the June 2025 election.
The plan paired GST with higher social security contributions.
35 comments · 71% negative · 23% neutral · 6% positive
What the negative comments said
What the positive comments said
Negative“GST will make us poorer.”
Deputies then failed to agree an alternative.
61 comments · 74% negative · 13% neutral · 13% positive
What the negative comments said
What the positive comments said
Negative“Stop wasting money on vanity projects and look at internal revenue leaks!”
Positive“Paid parking should have been introduced 30 years ago.”
The States also asked the public where to make cuts.
31 comments · 71% negative · 23% neutral · 6% positive
What the negative comments said
What the positive comments said
Negative“You can't fix the island's financial woes by making poor people poorer.”
A new Policy & Resources Committee was elected shortly afterwards.
93 comments · 45% negative · 19% neutral · 35% positive
What the negative comments said
What the positive comments said
Negative“The incompetence continues in Guernsey.”
Positive“Give 'em a chance.”
Commenters said the tender had taken about ten months; many came from the Jersey ferry debate.
139 comments · 63% negative · 26% neutral · 12% positive
What the negative comments said
What the positive comments said
Negative“Nice to see they have catered for day trips from France to Guernsey but not from Guernsey to France.”
Positive“Credit to Guernsey's government for taking the lead on decision making.”
The vote reversed the rejection of 2023.
98 comments · 74% negative · 18% neutral · 7% positive
What the negative comments said
What the positive comments said
Negative“They have betrayed the Guernsey people simple as that.”
Positive“Money needed to be raised and GST is the fairest way as everyone in society pays.”
The contract was due to run ten years and ends on 31 July 2025.
15 comments · 60% negative · 27% neutral · 13% positive Small sample
What the negative comments said
What the positive comments said
Negative“Good news, albeit years late.”
Committee presidents were chosen over the following weeks.
323 comments · 19% negative · 18% neutral · 64% positive
What the negative comments said
What the positive comments said
Negative“Publishing the accounts after the election is politically convenient.”
Positive“Great that Guernsey finally has a P&R president with mandate and support from the public.”
Deputies voted 30 to 6 against raising fuel duty by 2.3%.
59 comments · 76% negative · 20% neutral · 3% positive
What the negative comments said
What the positive comments said
Negative“Fresh new states full of fresh new ideas? Nope just more of the same.”
Deputies St Pier and de Sausmarez were to host a livestreamed Q&A.
46 comments · 52% negative · 46% neutral · 2% positive
What the negative comments said
What the positive comments said
Negative“What mandate do you believe you have from the electorate to introduce a GST?”
Some businesses then banned the deputies who backed the package.
202 comments · 59% negative · 27% neutral · 14% positive
What the negative comments said
What the positive comments said
Negative“'Pushing through this package' i.e. ignoring the voices of those you are serving.”
Positive“Right decision made.”
Where it stands
Each of the three tax decisions, in November 2024, January 2026 and October 2026, was followed by a rise of 11 to 14 points in the negative share. The June 2025 election is the one break in the pattern, and it lasted about three months.
What keeps recurring
Negative themes
The squeeze on ordinary households
Pensioners and middle earners say every new tax lands on them while high earners and finance firms do not pay their share.
Cut the States first
Deputies' pay rises, consultants, civil service management and big projects come up in nearly every thread as the savings to make before taxing anyone.
Trust and mandate
Many comments say deputies who campaigned against GST broke their word. The same thread runs through calls for binding manifestos, no-confidence votes and early elections.
Delivery failures
The Agilisys IT contract, tax assessment delays and the ferry tender are cited as evidence the States cannot run a new tax system.
Positive themes
Fairness: everyone pays
The supporters of GST argue it is the one tax that reaches everyone, visitors included.
Decisive, practical decisions
Praise follows decisions seen as common sense, such as ferry certainty or leaving a green-field site alone.
Goodwill at a fresh start
The 2025 election brought congratulations and a hope that new deputies would listen.
Alternatives offered
Paid parking, a tax on electric cars, a higher income tax on top earners and legalised cannabis appear as positive suggestions in several threads.
Positive means a positive tone, not agreement with the States. In the October 2026 frame most positive comments praised the income tax alternative and the deputies who voted against the GST package. In 2024 the positive comments backed GST. Read each frame for which side the warmth was directed at.
Limits
The full analysis, with every figure and chart, is on the State of the Nation site.
Prepared by Bridgehead Communications · Public data, October 2026