Although the politics of Jersey has been largely based on independent parliamentary representatives, from time to time the island has had political parties. There are currently 4 active political parties in the island. In 2000, the Clothier report noted that "over the centuries Jersey has had many parties, by which one means only a coming together of like minds to achieve a particular objective. Once achieved, the binding purpose has disappeared and the group pursuing it has dissolved. Such a grouping is not a true political party because it lacks the cement of a common philosophy of government, having only a narrow objective to hold it together until the objective is either attained or lost". Various parties have been formed over the years in Jersey, but since the 1950s the majority of candidates have stood for election unaffiliated to any political party. Current parties History 18th century Historically, two parties dominated Jersey politics. Originating in the 1770s, the Jeannot party formed around the radical lawyer and Connétable, Jean Dumaresq, who opposed the cabal of Jurats who surrounded Lieutenant-Bailiff Charles Lemprière (whose supporters became known as the Charlot party). The Jeannots rapidly adopted the nickname of Magots (cheese mites) after their opponents boasted of aiming to crush them like mites. Dumaresq believed in political reform and was an early example of a Liberal. He believed in democratic reform - that the States should have vested in them executive power and should be composed democratically elected Deputies.:200 19th century After the Napoleonic Wars, the parties were still existent. St Ouen provided each party with an emblem and a name: the Charlots (the Conservatives, sporting a rose) and the Magots (the Progressives, sporting a laurel leaf).:231 The symbolism soon became entrenched to the extent that gardens displayed their owners' allegiances, and pink or green paintwork also showed political sympathies. Still today in Jersey, the presence of established laurels or rose gardens in old houses gives a clue to the past party adherence of former owners, and the chair of the Constable of Saint Helier in the Assembly Room of the Parish Hall still sports the carved roses of a former incumbent. In order to help control voting in Jersey, it was not unknown for citizens to find themselves taken and stranded on the Écréhous until after voting had taken place. By the time of the introduction of the secret ballot in 1891, party