Herts has new young parliamentarians
15/02/2010
The results of the UK Youth Parliament Elections have been announced
Twelve happy students learned they had won places to represent Hertfordshire when the results of this year's election were announced at County Hall on Saturday (February 13).
MYPs are elected to speak up for young people in Hertfordshire and this year for the second time, the elections were held online. A total of 19 candidates campaigned on a variety of issues, promoting their manifestos on the county's youth portal at www.channelmogo.org with videos and written statements.
Voting ran from January 11 to February 5. As last year, the voting period was extended beyond the planned finish time to the school closures caused by the extreme weather conditions. Despite weather being even worse this year, the number of votes cast increased by 15.1%.
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The photo shows, left to right: Back row: Tamanna, Elizabeth, Lauren, Emma, Colette, Chinye, Youth Connexions Youth Support Worker Ian Crichton Front Row: Josh, Tom, Hari, Christopher ( 2 MYPs are not shown as they were unable to attend the ceremony)
Announcing the results, Richard Thake, Executive Member for Education and Skills, congratulated the new young parliamentarians and gave certificates of achievement to all candidates who had taken part.
"I sincerely wish to thank you all for being willing to run for representative office," he said. "The fact that you – each and every one of you – have been prepared to offer yourself forward, to run the rigours of campaigning and to stand the test of democracy, singles you out as people who care, people who feel they have something to offer and people who would like to 'make a difference' and believe they can do so. "
The Members and Deputy Members are:
Members:
·Tom, 17, from Northwood, a student at Watford Grammar School for Boys
·Tiffany, 16, from Abbots Langley, a student at Parmiters School, Watford
·Lauren, 15, from Abbots Langley, a student at Parmiters School, Watford
·Raphael, 15, from Radlett, a student at Haberdashers' Aske's School for Boys, Elstree
·Emma, 16,from Elstree, a student at Haberdashers' Aske'sSchool for Girls, Elstree
·Hari, 17 when voting commences, from Harrow, a student at Parmiters School, Watford
Deputy Members:
•Tamanna, 16, from Hatfield, a student at Bishops Hatfield School
·Elizabeth, 13,of Radlett, a student at Loreto College, St Albans
·Colette, 15,of Bushey, a student at Watford Grammar School for Girls
·Josh, 15,from St Albans, a student at Marlborough School Science College, St Albans
·Chinye, 13, from Edgware, a student at Loreto College, St Albans
·Christopher, 16, from Hemel Hempstead, a student at John F. Kennedy School, Hemel Hempstead
This week, the new parliamentarians will be launching their own blog pages on the county youth portal with videos of their campaign statements and invitations to their peers to join debates and ask questions via discussions boards on the website.
The video below shows Ian Crichton addressing the candidates at the announcement event, reflecting on the election process, just before the results were given.
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