Voting has now opened for the Welsh Youth Parliament elections with 23 Young people standing for election in both the Newport East & West wards.
The nomination process took place in September with many local people putting themselves up for nomination and outlining the key areas they want to champion if elected.
What is the Youth Parliament?
In October 2016, Members of the Senedd voted to set up a dedicated youth parliament for Wales.
The Senedd consulted over 5,000 young people across Wales to help decide what the Welsh Youth Parliament’s aim, membership, and work should be.
The First Welsh Youth Parliament was elected in December 2018, and spent the next two years working with each other, Members of the Senedd, and young people across Wales to raise awareness of issues and call for change, in particular on the three issues the Members of the first Welsh Youth Parliament chose:
Life Skills in the Curriculum
Emotional and Mental Health Support
Littering and Plastic Waste
The next chapter
The second Welsh Youth Parliament was elected in 2021. They met for the first time in January and in February 2022, the 60 new members presented their first speeches in the first full Plenary meeting.
The new WYP Members chose the following as their 3 key topics:
The Climate and the Environment
Education and the School Curriculum and
Our Mental Health and Wellbeing
Now as we approach the third parliament there are a number of candidates looking to seek election from their local peers. To vote in the election you need to be aged 11-17 years old and will need to register via this short online form - Register to Vote
GAVO’s Youth Volunteering Officer Kelly Sullivan is calling all young people in the city to make their voices heard and help shape the future for life in Newport by registering to vote before the cut off on the 20th November.
“I’m passionate about giving young people a platform to be heard and to be offered new opportunities. GAVO offers a youth-led grant, known as ‘Cash4U’ and this provides young people with the opportunity to lead a project that will create new volunteering opportunities and support youth activities in the city. £15,000 has been granted to voluntary and community groups since March 2024 and young people are using this funding to shape their communities. For this to happen, GAVO needs support from young people to participate in the youth-led grant panel. If this is something you’d like to get involved in, please get in touch! It’s so important for us to work closely with young people to help us influence policy on a local, regional and national level.”
Remember it’s important to encourage all young people you know in the above age bracket to apply for a vote by the 20th November and to then cast your vote by the 25th November.
See who is standing for election in NEWPORT East or NEWPORT West find out more about the Youth Parlaiment via the website here