Teens test senatorial candidates

The 17 candidates for senator have faced a tough round of questioning, as they took part in a hustings organised especially for young people.

In Jersey, the voting age is 16, and many of the teens who were at St James' Centre on Tuesday (2 June) will be picking potential politicians for the first time.

There were questions on:

• Why the candidates think so many young people don't see a future in Jersey
• Fishing and farming
• The importance of the role of senator
• Who they would vote for Chief Minister
• What project they would like to start, or continue, if elected

Lexie, 15, asked the first question and told us what she thought of the responses:

"I think a lot of them (the answers) were good.

"I think some of them were quite surface-level, saying there are jobs here, they're just not diverse enough or they're not what you might be looking for, but I think some candidates did try to get to the root of the problem, which I think is why so many people are leaving.

"It's not just one reason, it's a collection of things that don't just affect young people, they affect everyone, so I think it was really important to get their view on that as it is a youth husting."

Ashley, 18, said:

"When they delve deeper into what they think are facing young people, it seems a bit more honest to me, that they actually care, rather than saying people are leaving because it's expensive and stuff like this.

"Giving a good, detailed answer in 30 seconds was quite difficult, but some of the candidates did manage to do that, and that to me speaks to someone who would be capable and actually is looking out for what my interests would be."

Oliver, 17, said:

"I like that it was centred on the youth because in a regular hustings their answers would be focused on older people, but I like the fact that they talked about things for young people. They talked about getting things to do.

"Things like the hospital obviously matter to all islanders, but I'm glad we had a forum where it was just young people being able to ask questions and there was a smaller number, I think that was a good thing because it meant there was quicker answers and you could hear more."

The final senatorial hustings of the 2026 campaign is taking place tonight (3 June) at the Radisson Hotel in St Helier from 7pm.

Election day is on Sunday 7 June.

All the previous hustings for senator, deputy and constable are available to watch on YouTube