Why has 'the buzz' worn off island elections?

In 2020 a new voting system attracted record numbers to sign up to Guernsey's electoral roll but five years later "the buzz has worn off" according to a leading academic.

Dr Christopher Pich - who has studied Channel Island electoral systems - said the "novelty" of the island's new voting system had faded.

He said that meant fewer people had signed up to vote in this year's elections, with around 3,000 fewer on the roll than in 2020.

Thirty-one thousand people signed up for the electoral roll in 2020 for the first island-wide poll, compared to 27,316 in 2025.

Officials said 1,186 people aged between 15 and 19 were added to the electoral roll this year, as well as 1,198 people aged between 20 and 24.

Dr Pich, associate professor in marketing at Nottingham University Business School, said in 2020 the island saw the emergence of three political parties which provoked interest.

"It signified a new way of electioneering and all this generated some excitement at the 2020 general election," he said.

BBC Guernsey visited a tattooist, a barber shop and a dentist's surgery in St Peter Port to check out whether there was a "buzz" around the election.

Tattooist Chloe Smith said she had not ed because she did not really engage with politics on a day-to-day basis.

"People don't talk about it when they get tattoos and I don't really listen to the radio, watch the TV that often so I'm not really educated in it," she said.

Barber Coralie Benton said she had signed up to vote.

"I think if you want to have a say, this is the perfect opportunity," she said.

"I think I shouldn't really moan if there's something I don't like, I've not ed to have my say. It is life , ing, tricky to get round with other priorities in life, but if you want to see the country run in a certain way.

"People don't come and get their hair done and talk about Guernsey politics though, it's mainly American and what is in the news."

Dental practice manager Nicola Hughes said she had not signed on to the electoral roll because she was about to move away from the island.

Dr Pich said the trend in Guernsey mirrored trends across the world.

"Looking beyond the shores of Guernsey, voter disengagement, cynicism and widening disconnection between voters and electoral participation is on the rise since the beginning of the 1990s," he said.

"This growing trend raises many concerns among policymakers, researchers and elected officials."

He warned if voter disengagement continued to rise it posed "direct threats to the integrity of electoral democracy, the stability and governance of states and empowers disruptive voices".

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