Island poised for full democracy

The Chief Pleas will be wholly democratic for the first time

Final preparations are being made for historic elections on the Channel Island of Sark.

For the first time on Wednesday, the entire governing body, the Chief Pleas, will be elected with 57 candidates standing for 28 seats.

The changes to Sark's constitution were made to comply with European human rights legislation.

For more than four centuries, the island's tenants (landowners) have automatically had a seat.

Education plea

Sark's feudal system of government dates back to 1565, when Queen Elizabeth I allowed the first seigneur (Lord) to hold the island as a "royal fief" (inherited land).

The only condition was that he guarded the island for the Crown, protecting it from pirates.

The island is just three miles (4.8km) long and 1.5 miles (2.4km) wide, with a resident population of about 600.

It is also car-free. Horse-drawn vehicles, bicycles, tractors and battery-powered buggies are the only permitted forms of transport.

The future role of the island's senior judge and president of the Chief Pleas, the seneschal, could be one of the first issues debated by the 28 elected members.

So many people in this island have an opinion Steve Cole, Sark resident Sark's historical customs remain The winding road to democracy

Just eight days before the election, the Court of Appeal in London ruled that the seneschal's dual role breached the "fair trial" provisions of Article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights.

Steve Cole, who runs Avenue Cycles in Sark, said: "So many people in this island have an opinion and I hope the new members use it sensibly."

Sark resident Zoe Adams said she hoped the new representatives would put education top of the agenda, but did not want the new government to get into debt.

Children who have reached secondary education age have to leave the island for Guernsey or the UK mainland to continue their schooling because there are no facilities on the island.

John Godwin, who has lived on Sark for 40 years, said: "Sark hasn't changed, but the people have, for the worse.

"There are so many retired people here now who see Sark as a tax haven."