The Chief Minister of Guernsey chairs the Policy Council, which consists of the heads of each of the ten government departments of the States of Guernsey. Guernsey operates a system of consensus, committees-based government. The Policy Council is explicitly not a cabinet and has relatively little executive authority compared to a cabinet; instead, its main function is policy co-ordination. The Chief Minister also speaks for the island externally in political matters. The current postholder is Deputy Peter Harwood who was voted in on 1 May 2012.
This post was created following the Machinery of Government review which came into effect 1 May 2004. The rules for selection of Chief Minister were amended in 2012 immediately prior to the election of a new Chief Minister; prior to this change candidates for the post needed to have served four or more of the last eight years as a deputy to qualify for the role. Deputy Harwood would have been unable to stand for the role of Chief Minister under the previous rules.
Read more about Chief Minister Of Guernsey: List of Chief Ministers of Guernsey, Election of 2004, Election of 2007, Election of 2012
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