Putting paid to widespread speculation, former Jersey Bailiff Sir Philip Bailhache has now confirmed that he is to seek election to that island’s States as a senator.

And it is clear that he feels driven to do so.

Not only is he giving up a lucrative position as a part-time judge, he is also standing largely on a single issue ticket.

In his view, the States of Jersey has lost its way and constitutional reform is needed urgently. While he believes ministerial government can work, the system has not developed sufficiently  and having too many politicians has resulted in high levels of personal animosity and bad blood.

He is certainly well placed to make such observations which, while being rooted in somewhat different circumstances, certainly resonate in this jurisdiction as well.

Talk privately to well-connected and senior figures either within the island’s administration or who have extensive dealings with it and the dissatisfaction with the way government here operates is expressed in stark, frequently despairing, terms.

While Guernsey and Jersey have chosen different paths – retaining consensus government versus a ministerial system – both islands have identified similar problems that require to be resolved: the need to be, in the shorthand, joined up.

The other frequent complaint is that Guernsey has prospered in recent years despite government and how much better things could be if departments and politicians were committed to corporate rather than personal objectives.

It is also clear that in today’s climate, the island’s administration has to be wedded to agreed social and economic policies because the money is not there to waste as in the past and that all efforts and expenditure have to be geared to achieving corporate results.

It isn’t, not least because chief officers do not routinely tell each other of departmental policy initiatives far less consult regarding how they might impact on or dovetail with other work within the system.

There is no effective coordination or control of States business and the various elements do not work well together.

The other depressing fact is that Sir Philip has no chance of changing things on his own.