East Riding young people elected as Members of UK Youth Parliament

East Riding elections to the UK Youth Parliament have taken place, with 5,743 young people voting on who they would like to represent them.

Four youth representatives have been announced; George Jackson, age 14 from Hornsea school and Sophia Osborne, age 16 from South Hunsley school have been elected as new Members of Youth Parliament (MYP). Charlotte Rogers and Poppy Pacy have been elected as Deputy Members.

Nine young people, aged between 11 and 17, applied to represent the East Riding. Each candidate produced a manifesto outlining their election pledges. The pledges were anonymous, so votes were based only on manifestos. Votes came in from young people via primary and secondary schools, postal votes and online votes for those who are electively home educated or in post-16 settings.

Darren Stevens, Executive Director of corporate resources, announced the successful candidates in front of proud families and teachers. Darren thanked all nine candidates for standing and being involved in the democratic process.

Councillor Victoria Aitken, Cabinet Member for children, families and education at East Riding of Yorkshire Council said:

“The UK Youth Parliament gives young people the opportunity to represent our local area on a national scale and to ensure young people’s voices are heard on issues affecting them.

“Primary and secondary schools have held some very innovative and creative elections this year, giving our children and young people an understanding of how elections work and an insight into politics.

“Congratulations to those elected!”

George Jackson’s manifesto is to bring better quality, healthy food, with more choice for young people in schools. George said: “I’m pleased to be elected and I really want to encourage young people to eat healthy food, so that they live healthier lives, and it will help reduce the pressure on the NHS in the future.”

Sophia Osborne’s manifesto is to help young people develop life skills, such as independent living, basic first aid and how to spot signs and symptoms of illnesses, such as cancer. Sophia said: “One of my main objectives is to enable all young people to learn skills that help us live independently, including basic first aid, spotting signs and symptoms of illnesses, understanding finances and home care. I’m looking forward to being a member of the UK Youth Parliament!”

The UK Youth Parliament creates and delivers campaigns on issues affecting young people, and the East Riding UK Youth Parliament members will deliver the chosen campaigns locally.

Young people were also invited to vote on which issues most affect them, and what they would like the UK Youth Parliament to focus on, through the Make Your Mark ballot. In East Riding, health and wellbeing was the issue which most young people said they are affected by. The results of the local Make Your Mark ballot will be fed into the national ballot and the issue most voted will form the basis of the UK Youth Parliament campaign for the year ahead.

UK Youth Parliament elections take place every two years.

The elections are organised by Community Vision, with support from East Riding of Yorkshire Council.