Gavin Scooter St Pier (born January 1967) is an elected deputy in the

States of Guernsey The States of Guernsey (), officially the States of Deliberation and sometimes referred to as the Government of Guernsey, is the parliament and government of the British Crown dependency of Guernsey. Some laws and ordinances approved by the ...

and former president of the Policy and Resources Committee. He has been a prominent figure in Guernsey politics since 2012 and is currently the leader of the Forward Guernsey political party.

Early life and education

St Pier was born in January 1967. He attended the

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

Professional career

St Pier qualified as a Chartered Accountant, Chartered Tax Adviser and

Barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

. He worked in the financial services sector before entering politics.

Political career

Early political career

St Pier was first elected to the

at the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

on 18 April 2012 as a deputy for St Sampson's District. He served as minister of treasury and resources from May 2012 to May 2016, overseeing the island's public finances during a challenging economic period.

President of Policy and Resources Committee

St Pier was re-elected at the 2016 general election, though with a reduced vote. After the third secret ballot he was elected in May 2016 as president of the Policy and Resources Committee, effectively becoming the island's

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

. During his tenure as president from 2016 to 2020, St Pier led the States' response to various challenges, including fiscal pressures and later the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He was known for his direct communication style, particularly during the pandemic when he delivered regular public statements about lockdown measures and government responses. St Pier lost his position as president in October 2020 following the 2020 general election, when

Peter Ferbrache Peter Terence Richard Ferbrache (born 1951) is an elected Deputy in the States of Guernsey, the parliament of Guernsey in the Channel Islands, and former president of the Policy and Resources Committee. Early life and education Ferbrache wa ...

was elected to succeed him.

Political party involvement

In August 2020, St Pier formed the

Guernsey Partnership of Independents Forward Guernsey is a political party in Guernsey launched on 11 April 2025. The party was created as an electoral vehicle to contest the 2025 Guernsey general election, adopting the manifesto developed by the separate Future Guernsey policy mo ...

party with

Heidi Soulsby Heidi Soulsby MBE, is a politician from the island of Guernsey. She has been a deputy of the States of Guernsey since the 2012 Guernsey general election and was the First female Deputy Chief Minister of Guernsey. She was made a Member of the M ...

and

Lyndon Trott Lyndon Sean Trott (born 17 July 1964, St. Sampson, Guernsey) is an elected Deputy in the States of Guernsey who served as the Chief Minister of Guernsey from 2008 to 2012 and has served as President of the Policy and Resources Committee of Guer ...

. The party won 10 seats in the 2020 election, making it the largest group in the States Assembly, though it later dissolved.

Future Guernsey and Forward Guernsey

In December 2021, St Pier launched

Future Guernsey Future Guernsey is a political movement in Guernsey focused on policy development and political advocacy. Originally founded in 2021 as a political party by Gavin St Pier, it was later de-registered and relaunched in November 2024 as an unregist ...

as a successor political movement, describing it as "fiscally and environmentally responsible and socially liberal". This first iteration was later de-registered as a political party. In November 2024, St Pier relaunched Future Guernsey as a policy-focused organisation, serving as Political Adviser alongside former ITN chief executive John Hardie as chairman and communications consultant Lindsey Freeman as CEO. Future Guernsey developed a comprehensive manifesto focusing on six core policy areas but was deliberately structured as an unregistered movement, meaning it could not legally endorse candidates under Guernsey electoral law.

Electoral law workaround

To circumvent the legal limitations faced by Future Guernsey, St Pier launched Forward Guernsey on 11 April 2025 as a completely separate registered political party for the upcoming 2025 Guernsey general election. Forward Guernsey adopted the Future Guernsey manifesto "in its entirety", effectively transferring the policy development work to an electoral vehicle that could legally contest elections. St Pier explained the separation was necessary because "Future Guernsey is not permitted by its constitution or electoral law to endorse and support candidates", requiring the creation of Forward Guernsey as a distinct legal entity. Upon launching Forward Guernsey, St Pier resigned his role as Political Adviser to Future Guernsey to become the new party's leader, maintaining the organizations as legally separate entities.

2025 election campaign

Forward Guernsey launched with four initial candidates: St Pier, Tom Rylatt, Rhona Humphreys and Ryan Courtney. The party's structure represents what St Pier described as "nothing like this or as comprehensive as this has ever been tried before in Guernsey", designed to provide policy coherence while working within electoral law constraints. St Pier has been critical of what he describes as the "endemic inertia and indecision" of independent-dominated assemblies, advocating for policy-based party politics as a solution to governmental dysfunction.

Personal life

St Pier is married with three children and has lived in

Saint Sampson, Guernsey St Sampson (Guernésiais: ) is a parish of Guernsey, an island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, directly north of St Peter Port. It is on the north-west and north-east coasts of the island and is split into two sections, intersected by Vale. The p ...

, since 1997. He continues to work as a trust professional alongside his political career.

References

External links

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States of Guernsey profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:St Pier, Gavin Living people Members of the States of Guernsey Presidents of the Policy and Resources Committee of Guernsey 1967 births Alumni of the University of Southampton