Plymouth youth parliament representatives elected

Plymouth’s young people turned out in force at the weekend to vote in the city’s UK Youth Parliament elections.

A total of 6417 young people voted, which is a 24 per cent increase from last year and the highest ever number of voters in a Plymouth UK Youth Parliament election.

Plymouth’s new Members of Youth Parliament are George Hadjiyiannakis and Alizeh Abdul Rahman. Deputy Members are Seb Irving de Andrés and Michelle Clancy.

Newly elected Michelle Clancy said:  “I’m very proud to be able to take on the role of Deputy Member of Youth Parliament and I’m thankful to everyone who believed in me and my campaign.”

Some of the campaigns being covered this year include tackling religious discrimination, supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans teenagers and enabling 16 to 18 year olds to volunteer with different departments at Plymouth City Council.

The results were announced by the Lord Mayor Councillor Pauline Murphy and Councillor Terri Beer, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People. 

Councillor Beer said: “I am over the moon that so many of our young people turned out to vote in these elections. It’s so important that we get them involved in politics at an early age as they are going to be the decision makers of the future. I’m also very impressed with the wide variety of campaigns that our new members will be supporting this year.”

The newly elected members will spend the next year working on their campaigns locally and contributing to national campaigns, supported by Plymouth City Council Youth Workers.