First Female Gov CEO Takes Charge

Jersey's first female government Chief Executive is now formally in post.

Suzanne Wylie had been in charge of Belfast City Council since 2014.

She's the permanent replacement for Charlie Parker, who officially stood down from the role more than a year ago following the controversy over his second job with UK real estate investment firm NewRiver.

It led to a no-confidence motion being called against the Chief Minister, which ultimately failed.

The 2020 States of Jersey annual report revealed that Mr. Parker received a £500,000 pay-off.

He was succeeded by Paul Martin, but only on a temporary basis.

He took over on 1 March 2021 on a 12-month fixed contract.

An attempt was made to halt the recruitment process for a new CEO and keep Mr. Martin in post until after June's general election, but that was rejected by the States Assembly.

It was then announced that Suzanne Wylie would take charge of the public service on a permanent basis from 1 March 2022.

67 people applied for the role, including four from the island. Mr. Martin didn't apply for the permanent post.

He appeared before Scrutiny on his last day in the job yesterday (30 March) and offered some words of advice for his successor.

"My advice to her would be to get out and about, to see and to be seen, to listen and to engage.

Today is my last day at Belfast CC. It has been a real privilege to work with such talented colleagues who are so committed to public service and Belfast itself and also with so many dedicated partners across all sectors. Thank you for all your support - I will miss you 🙏

— Suzanne Wylie (@SuzanneWylie2) January 19, 2022

I think that there is an enormous passion and enthusiasm in Jersey and great pride in the island and I think the best things we often achieve is when you're harnessing that strength and capability.

There is a paradox in being a Chief Executive that the job constantly takes you away from the front-line and from being out and about seeing things, but actually, that is often where most progress is made. I suggest that she does her best to balance her time in that way.

I do hope, secondly, that she is able to continue the journey of performance management and I believe performance improvement that we've embarked on and I think that will pay dividends in the future.

Thirdly, I'd probably advise her to take your work seriously, but yourself not so seriously."