News
15 Jul 2022
Jersey elects first female Chief Minister
Jersey’s first female Chief Minister took office on Monday 11 July.
Deputy Kristina Moore is the first woman to lead the island’s government. This follows Island-wide elections that saw women win a record 21 of the 49 seats in the States Assembly, the island’s parliament.
Kristina has now formed a new government following Ministerial elections earlier this week, resulting in the Island’s first gender-balanced Council of Ministers.
With Jersey’s civil service already led by Suzanne Wylie, two of the most prominent positions in the island are now held by women.
Kristina has been involved in Jersey politics for 11 years and previously served as home affairs minister.
A 47-year-old former journalist, she grew up in North Devon and moved to Jersey in 2000 when she was offered a job in local television, before entering island politics in 2011.
As home affairs minister from 2014 to 2018 she set up an action plan to improve intervention in the first two years of a child’s life and oversaw reform of Jersey’s domestic abuse and sexual offences laws.
From 2018 to 2022 she chaired key parliamentary scrutiny committees which oversee the government’s work.
In 2013 she made her diagnosis of breast cancer public to raise awareness of the condition. Following treatment she made a full recovery.
An independent with no party affiliation, she was elected Chief Minister by the States Assembly in a vote last week.
She is married with two children.
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Suzanne Wylie has been Chief Executive of Jersey’s civil service since February 2022.
Originally from Northern Ireland, she served as Chief Executive of Belfast Council from 2014 to 2022 before moving to Jersey to take up her role on the island.
She began working for her local council in Belfast straight out of university in 1988. At the time, she was one of only a few women working in an operational environment.
She later moved across local government, developing expertise in regeneration, capital programmes, economic development, health protection and customer services.
In her seven and a half years as Chief Executive of Belfast Council, she was policy adviser to eight diverse political parties and reshaped the organisation and its capability to deliver a 25-year plan.
She set up and led many stakeholder partnerships to ensure better targeting of resources to meet the needs of local people. This included community safety, health improvement, business innovation, and family support.
She is married with three grown-up children.