Best of luck to all the young people standing in the Youth Council and Youth Parliament elections. This in from the council, in their own words. Ed
Voting to choose the members of the Isle of Wight Youth Council for next year will begin on 5 December.
Several young people are vying for a number of spaces on the youth council, which is an independent organisation that works with Isle of Wight Council, helping the local authority shape policies and projects that benefit young people.
There are voting stations in all Isle of Wight secondary schools, the Isle of Wight College and at the Youth and Community office (formerly Connexions) on 29 High Street, Newport.
Voting will close at 1pm on Friday 9 December.
30 young people standing
The North Wight area is the most keenly contested, with 13 young people vying for eight spaces. They are Alice Blyth, Ettienne Janus, Shaun Joy, Thomas Turtle, Lawrie Mason, Joshua Jones, Jocelyn White, Lauren-Marie Scambell, Charlotte Major-Rendell, Sharna Searle, Freddie Green, Laura Duke and Adi Volney.
In East Wight, nine candidates are hoping to win six seats. These are Alister Webb, Anastasia Wlaschin-Wiest, Jack Philipsborn, Julia Banachowska, Rebecca Browning, Kieren Thompson, Alex Webb, Bronte Debenham and Dennis Kurtin.
In the South Wight area, Andy Rea, Daniel Clarke, Tessa Kewell, Karen Elliot, Edan Bartlett and Ashton Helyer make up the candidate list, while Atalanta Hersey and James Metcalfe contest the West Wight area.
The results will be announced by Isle of Wight Council Leader David Pugh at 6pm in the Council Chamber at County Hall on Thursday 15 December.
Member of the UK Youth Parliament Election
Meanwhile, voting will also take place to choose the Isle of Wight’s Member of the UK Youth Parliament (MYP). Once elected, the MYP works with their local MP, councillors, schools and the youth council on local issues.
The vote runs alongside the youth council vote and is also held at the individual stations across the Island. The winning candidate will also be announced on 15 December.
Eight young people standing
Ettienne Janus, Thomas Turtle, Lawire Mason, Karen Elliott, Ashton Helyer, Jack Philipsborn, Freddie Green and Dennis Kurtin are all hoping to win the election to be the Island’s MYP. Whoever attracts the most votes will be elected the Isle of Wight’s MYP, with the person polling the second most amount becoming Deputy MYP.
All the candidates and their manifestos can be seen by logging on to www.iow.gov.uk/council/youth-elections/
Anyone wanting to find out further information about the youth council or Member of Youth Parliament elections can contact Chris Smy, IW Council Youth Empowerment Worker, on 07976 009119 or via [email protected]
Image: Two short planks under CC BY 2.0
