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 Lyndon Trott

Lyndon Trott

Lyndon Trott was born on 17 July 1964 from St. Sampson, Guernsey and he is the current Chief Minister of Guernsey. He was elected to the position on 1 May 2008 and his term of office will expire on 30 April 2012. He was re-elected as a Deputy for the electoral district of St. Sampson in the...

 who was voted in on 1 May, 2008. His term of office expires on April 30, 2012.

This post was created following the Machinery of Government review which came into effect 1 May, 2004.

Election of 2004

The first post holder was Deputy Laurie Morgan

Laurie Morgan

Laurie Morgan From , is a Deputy of the States of Guernsey. He was Guernsey's first Chief Minister and was elected to the post in May 2004. His term of office was due to expire in 2008, when the next General Election is due...

 who was elected by the States of Guernsey

States of Guernsey

The States of Guernsey is the parliament of the island of Guernsey. Some laws and ordinances approved by the States of Guernsey also apply to Alderney and Sark as "Bailiwick-wide legislation" with the consent of the governments of those islands...

 in their first meeting of May 2004 and beat Deputy Bernard Flouquet, who was elected Deputy Chief Minister, and Deputy Mike Torode.

It was announced 31 January 2007, 'that the Chief' Minister and the Policy Council

Policy Council

Policy Council may refer to:* Family policy council, organizations devoted to the advancement of children and family-related issues in the political sphere and society generally...

 were to resign following an independent audit into the tender process for a hospital block.

Election of 2007

The election of a new Chief Minister to replace Laurie Morgan took place at a meeting of the States of Guernsey on 5 March 2007. Laurie Morgan announced that he would not be seeking re-election. Four candidates contested the position: Deputies Jonathan Le Tocq

Jonathan Le Tocq

Jonathan Paul Le Tocq is a church minister, musician and politician based on the island of Guernsey, British Channel Islands. He is Senior Pastor of which is a Newfrontiers Church; Le Tocq was instrumental in founding this church in the 1980s, being formed from a youth group to which he...

, Bernard Flouquet, Mike Torode

Mike Torode

Michael W. Torode was the second Chief Minister of Guernsey. He was voted in by the States of Deliberation on 5 March 2007 and his term expired on 30 April 2008....

 and Peter Roffey.

In the final round of voting Deputy Mike Torode beat Deputy Peter Roffey by 24 votes to 22.

Chief Minister Torode did not seek reelection in 2008, and Deputy Lyndon Trott

Lyndon Trott

Lyndon Trott was born on 17 July 1964 from St. Sampson, Guernsey and he is the current Chief Minister of Guernsey. He was elected to the position on 1 May 2008 and his term of office will expire on 30 April 2012. He was re-elected as a Deputy for the electoral district of St. Sampson in the...

 was elected by the States of Guernsey

States of Guernsey

The States of Guernsey is the parliament of the island of Guernsey. Some laws and ordinances approved by the States of Guernsey also apply to Alderney and Sark as "Bailiwick-wide legislation" with the consent of the governments of those islands...

, defeating the following other candidates: Bernard Flouquet, Al Brouard, Hunter Adam, Carla McNulty Bauer and David de Lisle.