Mike Torode has been chief minister since March 2007 and his successor will be picked today. (0572497)
MIKE TORODE left the chief minister’s office for the last time yesterday advising his successor that safeguarding the economy was key.
He began his day with a radio interview and his final task was a speaking engagement at the Ron Short Centre last night. Deputy Torode had mixed emotions about retiring after 29 years in the States.
‘There are some things I would love to have been able to finish and some I’d have loved to have introduced. However, it gets to a time where you have to realise enough is enough.’ The new States will decide today who will replace him.
‘There are so many areas of responsibility for the chief minister, but the key one in conjunction with the Policy Council is to safeguard our economy. Without a successful economy, we can’t begin to supply the level of social services, health and education that we have done over the years and to actually go on and promote new policies,’ he said.
‘Environmental policies are very much to the fore at the moment. All that can only be done if we have the money to pay for it and that means full employment for local people in good jobs with competitive salaries. I think we’ve been quite successful at that and my successor is going to have to keep pressing on.’
He has endorsed Deputy Lyndon Trott for the position.
The role has been questioned in some quarters because its lack of power, especially in hiring and firing the team of ministers, means it is a difficult one.
‘It depends on the personality of the individual,’ said Deputy Torode.
‘I haven’t had absolute power but by dint of persuasion, because I have a strong personality, I have been able to get people to work alongside me – to pull people together as a team. While a team needs a captain, it doesn’t necessarily need to be a dictator. You have to place great reliance on the integrity and ability of the whole team, including our civil servants.’
Deputy Torode was elected chief minister after the clinical block row in March 2007.
He said being chosen for the top job had been a highlight of his political career.
‘I think many members of the States had worked with me over the years and felt confident in me. I hope I clearly displayed to them that that was justified.’
He was grateful to the electorate for keeping him in the States time and again, especially in the island-wide conseiller election.
‘It gave me a lot of confidence that so many of the population believed I could do a good job for them. I could not have carried on doing this job without the support of the public, the staff and my family.’
Article posted on 1st May, 2008 - 2.29pm
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