I was born and educated in Scotland, but I am married to a local girl and I have lived in Guernsey for almost 30 years. I originally studied Russian, and started out at the BBC towards the end of the Cold War in their foreign broadcast monitoring service. After moving to Guernsey, I worked for the Civil Service first at the Greffe and later for the old Civil Service Board on the public sector pay team. Then, after a few years as a freelance translator, I studied English Law and Legal Practice, and took up employment in Guernsey’s financial services sector – for nearly nine years at the Guernsey Financial Services Commission and since 2012 in industry as a compliance professional.
I believe that the modern role of States Deputy requires one hundred per cent of an incumbent’s energy and attention, and, if fortunate enough to be elected, I intend to make this my full-time job.
Values
I hesitate to be pigeon-holed, but the description which perhaps fits me best is that of a finance professional with an environmental and social conscience.
Environmentally, I feel strongly that Guernsey must join with the global community in working towards the cessation or reversal of climate change. This will not only reinforce our credentials as a principled and responsible international player, but it will also help sustain our own fragile environment.
Socially, my values are those of tolerance, respect, and concern for all members of our community. I believe that government has no higher task than to ensure the well-being of all of those whom it serves. This belief, however, is tempered with realism. Before anything else is possible, government must ensure that underlying economic fundamentals are sound and sustainable. For this reason, I will focus my manifesto on what I regard as the core practical issues confronting Guernsey’s government today.