Telford & Wrekin Youth Parliament representatives elected
More than 5,000 young people across Telford and Wrekin have gone to the polls to elect their new representatives for the UK Youth Parliament.
This year there were five candidates running in the election – Coral Brookes (Newport Girls High), Sian Davies (Abraham Darby Academy), Tom Evans (Wrockwardine Wood Arts College), Ellis Snookes (Burton Borough School) and Ashleigh Turnbull (Madeley Academy).
Ellis Snookes, aged 14, who lives in Tibberton, won the election and is the new Member of the UK Youth Parliament for Telford and Wrekin in 2012/13.
Coral Brookes, aged 16, who lives in Wellington, was our runner up and is the new Deputy Member of the UK Youth Parliament for the borough.
The pair were elected after a final count at Telford & Wrekin Council’s civic offices with a total of 5,168 young people casting their votes – compared with less than 3,000 last year.
The count was manned by seven young people who gave up their free time to count the votes, council officers and some members of the public also offered support.
Telford & Wrekin Council supports the work of the Youth Parliament and the returning officer for Thursday’s election was the council’s managing director Richard Partington.
Ten schools and academies took part in the election along with various youth groups. Most of the participating schools held voting assemblies for their students.
Pupils were shown a UK Youth Parliament nationally produced animation DVD that outlined the process of voting and a locally made DVD that showed the five candidates explaining why they should be chosen to represent Telford and Wrekin.
Ellis and Coral will attend a regional meeting in March and throughout their year in post they will meet with a range of young people involved in participation projects from across the West Midlands, as well as their other newly elected UKYP representatives.
They will be introduced to some key UKYP regional figures and will take part in induction activities preparing for their new role ahead.
Councillor Paul Watling, cabinet member for Children, Young People and Families, said: “I am delighted that more than 5,000 young people voted in this year’s Youth Parliament elections.
“We had a very strong field standing for the election and I am confident that both Ellis and Coral will be fantastic ambassadors for the borough.”
The UK Youth Parliament is a national organisation run by young people for young people. It enables them to use their energy and passion to change the world for the better providing opportunities for young people to use their voice to bring about social change.
