'A sad day for democracy': Alderney's elections cancelled after only four nominations submitted

An Alderney States member has told ITV News that today is "a sad day for democracy" as the upcoming election has been cancelled.

Islanders were due to take to the polls on 26 November.

Alex Snowdon says there was "no contest" as only four people were nominated for five seats, meaning that one seat has been left unfilled:

"In normal years for five seats you'd potentially have 12 to 15 people standing, and you'd have a proper election with manifestos going out.

"This is tremendously low and very disappointing because there is not a single vote cast for those candidates."

Those nominated have automatically been elected as members of the States of Alderney until the 31 December 2026.

Bill Abel, Steve Roberts, Nigel Vooght and Bruce Woodhead will take the seats after they were each nominated by a proposer, and a seconder.

The average age of Alderney politicians is now 65, according to Alex Snowdon.

He says encouraging young people to get involved in politics is difficult as the workload of a politician is "tremendous" with most committee meetings taking place on weekdays:

"We need to look at how we make it more attractive for younger people to stand for the States of Alderney and how things can be less of a burden for those working people.

"The political will is there from younger people, but how can they become a States member when they potentially have a mortgage to pay, rent to pay and a family to raise?"

The politician is calling for an urgent review of what went wrong with this election, so more candidates will put themselves forward in the future.