Norman Le Brocq

Jersey
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Norman Le Brocq (1922 – 26 November 1996) was a Jersey politician.

Biography

He participated in the resistance to German occupation in the Second World War, and was one of the founding members of the Jersey Democratic Movement, a communist party, which by the end of the war in 1945 had grown to 18. The JDM helped to provide support, information and sustenance to the slave workers brought by the Germans over to Jersey from Russia. In 1966, Le Brocq and 19 other islanders were awarded gold watches by the Soviet Union as a sign of gratitude for their role in the resistance movement.

He was a campaigner for working-class rights in the field of housing and social policy, and the Communist Party’s leading figure in the Islands. After unsuccessful bids for election in the 1960s, he was elected to the States of Jersey in 1966, which was such a remarkable event that it was noted in the British press – "Working man joins the rulers of Jersey" (Observer 18.12.1966). He remained in the States as a Deputy for Saint Helier until his retirement.

Lifebelt of the Norman Le Brocq, States fisheries vessel

He was president of the Island Development Committee (IDC) and instrumental in bringing in the first Island Plan, which laid out zones for housing and commercial development and green field sites on which development was not permitted. He was also chairman of the Sea Fisheries Advisory Committee, and a Sea Fisheries vessel is named after him.

Outside of the States, he was a director of the Channel Islands Co-operative Society for 35 years, and its President for 27 of those.

Social policies

In "Jersey Looks Forward" (1946), he enumerated the political and social policies towards which he fought, many of which were later adopted by the States of Jersey. These included:

• States members to receive adequate remuneration
• A modern equitable divorce law
• An augmented paid police force acting over the whole island
• Compulsory health insurance
• Compulsory free education to the age of 16
• A maximum working week
• A minimum wage

Bibliography

• Jersey Evening Post
• Morning Star
• LE BROCQ, N. S: Jersey Looks Forward. With a Foreword by Harry Pollitt. Published by the Communist Party, 16 King Street, London, WC2, 12 September 1946.