Candidate calls for less waste in next election

A Jersey election candidate has urged future campaigners to reduce their environmental impact by using fewer posters and leaflets.

Mark Le Chevalier was unsuccessful in the poll to be elected constable of St Helier. He said he deliberately limited the number of posters during his campaign and he thought candidates should explore greener ways of reaching voters.

The election saw hundreds of posters across the island, with leaflets also delivered to homes. Candidates must have posters taken down by 9 June, which Le Chevalier said meant many would likely end up being thrown away.

He argued posters could help candidates become visible to voters, but were not essential to a successful campaign.

He said: "I think every candidate was going around speaking to all their parishioners. That's probably the best way of getting people's votes."

He also suggested future campaign posters could use materials that are more hard-wearing.

He said: "We've had some terrible weather where some of them have just been ripped off, or the winds taken them, or the rain's got to them. So, if we can work with some of the printers which have durable material that's actually recyclable, then I think it will be better."

Le Chevalier added that the areas posters were put up should also be looked at.

He said: "There was 92 candidates this year and there's not enough places, so it does look really, really tacky and it's just a mess.

"They're in bin bags, or littered all over the floor, or on top of letterboxes. It's just a waste of money."

Le Chevalier said a single booklet - with enough space for detailed candidate manifestos - could help reduce waste.

Vote.Je did produce a booklet where candidates could write 450 words to let islanders find out who they were and what they stood for.

But Le Chevalier said this did not let candidates go into enough detail.

He said: "It's not a lot to try and get your voice heard. I think, if we were to get maybe one and a half or two pages, that would be a lot better".

People in St Helier were divided over whether posters created a problem for the environment.

Tina Shea, visiting from the UK, said the posters "looked quite nice" and didn't make too much of an impact.

Lauren Handscomb said she had seen quite a lot of posters around.

She said: "I live and work in Town, so that's where I've seen the majority of them. But it is pretty cluttered, and lots on the same lamppost."

She added that disposing of them would "definitely" have an impact on the environment.

"I think a lot of them are plastic, which is obviously not great", she said.

Charlaine Duncan said her family had talked about the "amount" of leaflets that came through their door they "didn't even look at".

She said it did not "really show a great message" for candidates who campaigned on environmental issues.

Follow BBC Jersey on X and Facebook. Send your story ideas to channel.islands@bbc.co.uk.