Whether you vote for me or not, you have to be convinced that the effort of voting at all is worthwhile. So you should perhaps ask yourself - 

Is Legislative Council relevant?

If you think not, then that is most likely the fault of the Councillors. If you have an incisive and interested Council, then it will be able to accept and fulfil the responsibilities it should have. If they are tired and disinterested, then those responsibilities will effectively lie elsewhere – probably the Governor’s Group (formerly the Management Team).

However, I do believe that both the Governor and DfID need to be convinced of the Council’s effectiveness, because the track record hitherto has been so poor, that few people think of LegCo as a place where policy decisions are made.

The way that the legislature is supposed to function is that LegCo formulate, discuss and adopt “policies”, that is, overarching principles for particular issues, within which the Government is expected to work, and the Government (i.e. the Executive, the Executive Council and the Civil Servants) bring these policies into being. With an ineffectual LegCo, we find that the policies are formulated by the Governor’s Group, often with scant consultation with LegCo.

Of course, St.Helena is currently completely dependent financially on DfID charity, and DfID feel, not surprisingly, that they should have a significant say in how the money is spent. This means that the elbow room for LegCo to make policies is not as great as we would like, or what we would expect if we were financially independent. However, again, if we have a strong and focused LegCo, while staying well within the bounds of Good Governance, then DfID will come to be happier with allowing St.Helena more freedom to decide its own policies and ultimately its own future.

So, yes – a Legislative Council is very relevant – as long as it is strong. We mustn’t let a weak LegCo be sidelined by unelected officials.

 

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