Youth Parliament Elections - Winners Announced

Young people from all over Northamptonshire have won elections to represent Young people at the UK Youth Parliament. The winners are:

Members of Youth Parliament (MYP’s) Deputy Members of Youth Parliament (DMYP’s)
Alexander Evelyn – Northampton Adam Graveley - Daventry
Emma Truscott – South Northants Jade Neville – East Northants
Matthew Reay – Corby Thomas Turrell - Wellingborough
Emer Dickinson – Kettering Christopher Monk - Kettering

It is the responsibility of these young people now to not only represent the views of young people at a local level but to take issues affecting young people in Northamptonshire to a national level.

Over the last 2 months across Northamptonshire, the election process for the UK Youth Parliament have been taking place to elect 4 Members of Youth Parliament (MYP’s) and 4 Deputy Members of Youth Parliament (DMYP’s) from the 7 districts and boroughs across Northamptonshire. In total 38 young people stood for election in a process which involved them writing election speeches and having them published on the Internet where young people were invited during half term to vote for the person they wanted to represent them.

The process began with the young people attending a training day where they took part in some informal ice breakers games and number of different workshops which looked at Communication, Democracy, Representation and what the UK Youth Parliament does. The other major part of the day was for the young people to write their election speech and deliver it to the rest of the group with the speeches not to be over one minute long or two sentences.

The speeches and photos of the candidates were then uploaded onto the Internet the week before voting opened and the real hard work began as they tried to drum up support and get young people to visit the website and vote for them by doing assemblies in school, putting up posters advertising themselves all over the local area as well as campaigning in and around Connexions offices and libraries during election week.

After all of the hard work the young people had put in getting people to vote for them came the evening they had all been waiting for when the winners were announced and we got to find out who would be representing Northamptonshire in the Youth Parliament. A celebration evening was held on Tuesday 26th February at the Guildhall in Northampton, which was attended by all the candidates, parents, supporters and local councillors.

There were 8 places up for grabs, 4 MYP’s and 4 DMYP’s. The announcements began with the winning person from each of the 7 districts being announced and the top 4 with the most votes being voted in as MYP’s and the other 3 receiving the posts of DMYP’s. The final DMYP place was then announced as the best-placed runner up from all of the areas. Below is all of the winners and their election speeches.

The newly elected MYP’s and DMYP’s will begin their term of office on the 3rd March 2008, which will last for 2 years. They will meet regularly with the MP in their area and promote issues affecting young people in Northamptonshire and promote them at a national level.

Sarah Hillier of Connexions Youth Involvement Team who have supported the process and will support the MYP’s for the term of their office said, “This has been a great process and is fantastic to see so many young people wanting to make a difference in their local area. We see a lot of negative images of young people at the moment but here we have a group of young people who are passionate about changing things and making Northamptonshire better for all young people and the population as a whole.”

Alex Evelyn – Northampton, MYP
My name is Alex I’m 15 years of age. I’d like to stand for election as I feel I’m the best person to put across the views of young people, I’m focused, proactive in the community, an excellent listener and would like to make a difference to my area, I’m willing to do whatever it takes for CHANGE. I feel being in the Youth Parliament is a great learning curve and a privilege; I can make sure our views are listened to in the Northants area. VOTE ALEX

Emma Truscott – South Northants, MYP
My name is Emma and I believe I should be your UK Youth Parliament representative for South Northants because I am a passionate pro-active member of society that wants to make changes for you. I am keen to find the views of all young people in the county and if you vote for me I will devote time and effort into bringing Northamptonshire’s issues to a national level to make a difference.

Emer Dickinson– Kettering, MYP
I believe that I would be the best choice for the Northants Youth Parliament as I am a good listener and I will use my voice to achieve your needs.

Matthew Reay – Corby, MYP
If I am elected as a member of the Youth Parliament I promise whole-heartedly to dedicate myself to the task of bringing the views of my generation to the forefront of discussions. I am passionate about ensuring that the opinions of my constitutes are accurately represented and that we as a generation are able to have a say on what happens around us.

Jade Neville – East Northants, DMYP
Ever since I started school and experienced first hand how mean kids can be. I knew I wanted to make a difference; this is the best way for me to do it. I want to help the confidence of those being bullied, as well as help my community, help me make a difference; vote for me

Adam Graveley – Daventry, DMYP
Hi, I’m Adam and I would like to represent Daventry because I believe everybody has the right to a voice. The Youth Parliament is there to do this and I promise that if you vote for me, I shall do my best to make sure your views are listened to.

Thomas Turrell – Wellingborough, DMYP
If elected as the Wellingborough Youth Parliament representative I would like to work closely with the local youth, education leaders and authorities, to ensure that Wellingborough youths have the resources to increase employment chances. I would like to work with Mr Peter Bone (MP), who I have met and backs me in my application to lead a clean up Wellingborough campaign.

Christopher Monk – Kettering, DMYP
Many other candidates will promise to change one or two things of there choice for you for the example reducing bus fares or campaigning for a new swimming pool, but this is stuff they want. I promise to try to do the best of my ability to get everything any young person in Kettering wants, done, I will be a listening MYP who works for everyone, not just friends or school mates.