Jeremy Macon

Twenty-one year-old Jeremy Macon is the youngest candidate standing for Senator.

He has wanted a career in politics since sixteen and especially wants to give the youth in Jersey a voice that truly understands them and their issues.

Name: Jeremy Maçon
Age: 21
Place of birth: Jersey
Address: Plat Douet Road, St Saviour
Family: Son of Martin and Nellie Maçon; sisters, Philippa and Katie-Marie; brother, Alex
Education: La Pouquelaye, Haute Vallée and Hautlieu Schools; Plymouth University in partnership with Highlands College
Occupation: Project support co-ordinator
Hobbies/interests: Music (all kinds - occasional DJ), going out with my friends, theatre, the natural world, history and heritage, keeping up-to-date with current events, meeting new people (my friends are all different ages - some younger than me and some older than my parents)
Election platform:
As my family have been in Jersey since the 1700s I have always been keenly interested in the Island, its people and history.

I want to give the young people of Jersey a voice. It’s rare that we’re asked for our views and even rarer for the government to consider our opinions when making major decisions. These decisions are going to affect the rest of our lives and our childrens’ lives long after most of these States Members are gone. Some of my friends have already left the Island as they see no future for themselves here.

I’ve seen the effect that taxation and the cost of living has had on ordinary people like my family. Hardworking, ordinary people shouldn’t have to worry about feeding their families or choosing between buying shoes for their children or paying the rent.

If people work hard they should see a return for their labours, not struggling whilst the government wastes their taxes on steam clocks, money which would be better spent on providing medical care locally rather than having to travel away from their families when at their lowest ebb. My dearest wish is to help the youth and ordinary people of Jersey.

Proposers: Graeme Mauger, Maurice Merhet, Hanora Jones, Philippa Maçon, Laura Smith, Callum Alexandre, Nellie Maçon, Alister Shield-Laignel, Christine Larose and Vincent Thorne.

Nomination speech:
JEREMY Maçon is the youngest candidate to stand in the Senatorial elections. The 21-year-old is a former Hautlieu School pupil who graduated from the University of Plymouth with a BSC (Hons) Joint Social Sciences degree earlier this year. His proposer, Graeme Mauger, said he nominated the candidate because he was an exceptional young man who had planned a career in politics since he was 16 years old. During his speech at the Town Hall Mr Mauger said that Mr Maçon’s family had roots in the Island going back to the 1700s. He said the candidate, who has worked as a sales assistant, truly wished to give people a voice and added that he was a man of integrity, courage and energy who wanted to represent people young and old. Mr Maçon was against GST, supported free child care and wanted Fort Regent to be regenerated to allow affordable facilities for young people. (from thsisijersey)

For somebody so young, he talks a lot of sense.

BBC Manifesto


Last summer was disastrous for British agriculture, particular for their wheat harvest, which was said to impact on us. It was obvious that food prices would rise dramatically, and a caring government would have done it’s upmost to keep food prices down, our government though decided to introduce 20 Means 20 and, worst of all, GST.
There are other ways of recouping income loss from removing exempt tax from companies administered in Jersey, but our government chose instead to place the burden on the people of Jersey. Even now when it is evident that a significant number are struggling they still refuse to remove it.
We have a government that is out of touch with the people and generally only listens to the voices of those representing the finance industry and big business.
We do need the finance industry, and are very grateful for the contribution it makes towards out standard of living, but we desperately need to diversify.
Many students don’t return to the island because they don’t all want to work in the finance industry, but there is little choice for them either in employment or recreation, and there is little chance that they will ever own their own homes.
The infrastructure of our island is desperately in need of renovation, yet we allow more and more immigration. Eventually immigrants gain housing qualifications and want their own homes, they also have families and so more schools are needed and so on.
Over the years we have seen many nationalities come to the island and our culture is the richer for it, I myself have one French and one German grandmother apart from my Jersey grandfather, but the fact is we have to reasonable and accept that there is a limit to the population Jersey can bear.
We can never hope to house everyone properly and still maintain open spaces if we continue with this open door policy. We would do better to take care those who are already here now, and give everyone the best possible quality of life we can.
To turn around some of our current problems we need to do the following:
Introduce a charge on companies administered in Jersey to recoup the £600 exempt tax.
Encourage diversification to not only encourage our young people to stay, but to safeguard the future if we ever lose the finance industry.
We need to control immigration through a visa or points system, if we are to retain our green fields and ever hope to solve the housing shortage.
We need to provide means-tested childcare for the under-threes so parents who want to can return to work.
We should introduce US style school buses to get as many cars off the roads as we can at peak times.
We should bring modern recreational facilities to Fort Regent, financed through private enterprise.
And most of all we need to remove GST once and for all.
If you elect me I promise to do my upmost to make sure your voices are heard.

Nellie Macon was apparently threatened at the hustings!

http://the-jersey-forum.proboards85.com/index.cgi?board=senators&action=display&thread=281