Deputy Mark Helyar says he has both the public and political support to try to slim down the States to 30 deputies ahead of the June 2025 election.

Deputy Helyar began his quest on Facebook with a simple yes or no poll.

He asked if he should draft and submit a requete, or a petition which is the Guernsey equivalent of a private members bill, directing that the States be slimmed down by 10, to 28 deputies, before June 2025.

95% of the more than 500 responses, which deputy Helyar says makes it representative, agreed.

He says people are fed up with the current inertia:

"They want to see less talking, more action. There are so many problems that we've got that aren't being fixed at the moment and we have a government that is just treading water."

"You get that analogy of turkeys voting for Christmas and those involved simply don't want to press it forward. But I think the public does want it to happen. We're here to serve the public and that is the reason for this happening."

A requete needs six other deputies to sign it and deputy Helyar says he has the political support:

"I've definitely got enough for the requete to be signed, that's not an issue. It's now really building support to ensure that it gets through."

If it does succeed, deputy Helyar, who is a Guernsey lawyer, says amending the constitution in time for the June 2025 election should be straightforward:

"SACC, the committee which is responsible for States affairs will have to go away and consider what other amendments are necessary consequent to that."

Based on his social media poll, and talking to islanders, deputy Helyar believes it is what voters want:

"I think it would be a fantastic Christmas present for everybody. It would improve the quality of candidates coming forward for the next election to know that government would be leaner and it it would be easier to make decisions and get everybody engaged."

If submitted in the next three weeks, the requete could be debated in late November.