Schools across Halton are being urged to ensure that their students have a chance to vote for Halton’s next Member of Youth Parliament – as budding Mays, Corbyns, Farrons, Lucas, or Nuttalls battle to represent Halton on the national stage.

Elections are being held by UK Youth Parliament to find a replacement for current MYP Thomas Norris. Thomas steps down at the end of March after a packed year in office. And the politics never far from the front pages, there is plenty of competitions.

Thomas said, “My year in office has been an amazing experience and it’s sad to be stepping down. I have done so many things including debating in the House of Commons, providing a voice for young people locally and relaunching Halton Against Hate. This year has been really enjoyable, exciting and just plain awesome!

“Now it’s time to hand over the baton to another young person and the list of candidates this year is really strong. I want to encourage every school to get involved and to make sure that they give young people every chance to vote.

“Learning to vote and to engage with politics is an essential life skill and all schools should support their students to engage fully with this election. I can’t wait to see who is elected to be the next Member of Youth Parliament for Halton.”

All schools and colleges in Halton have been urged to hold an election day and to give their students a chance to vote. If young people can’t vote at school for any reason, they can cast a vote at one of Addaction’s Youth Clubs or Mayor’s Award sessions.

There are six candidates standing for election for the role of Member of Youth Parliament. They are Alex Anderson (aged 13), Charlie Anderson (13), Layla Carson (11), Ewan Jago (14), Johnathan Madden (15) and Finlay Maher (12).

Halton Borough Council’s Executive Board Member for Children, Young People and Families, Cllr Tom McInerney, said: 2The winning candidate will be involved in youth focused campaigns on a local and national level and will take part in the UK Youth Parliament debates in the House of Commons in November.”

Results of the election will be announced on Friday 31 March.

If the elections fire an interest in politics and participation, young people aged 11 – 19 can join Halton Youth Cabinet where they will be involved in ensuring the young people of Halton have a voice on a local, regional and national level.

For more information about UK Youth Parliament, the election in Halton and Halton Youth Cabinet contact Phil McClure at Young Addaction on phil.mcclure@addaction.org.uk or call 01928 240 406.

The video featuring the candidates is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70t982eaI0c

Halton MYP elections are run by Youth Addaction behalf of Halton’s Children’s Trust and Halton Borough Council as part of an on-going commitment to improve opportunities for all children and young people.

The UK Youth Parliament is an initiative run by charity The British Youth Council
More than 300 young representatives are Members of the UK Youth Parliament. They work to ensure that the voices of young people are heard at a national, regional and local level.
For further details on the UK Youth Parliament please refer to http://www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk/