The election results for Dorset’s Youth Parliament representatives were announced at a ceremony at County Hall in Dorchester.

The four successful candidates will take up their roles as follows: Stanley and Tilly – lead representatives for Dorset at Youth Parliament; Cam and Megan – deputy lead representatives for Dorset at Youth Parliament.

They will represent Dorset on a regional and national basis, helping to engage young people in politics, democracy, and citizenship. In partnership with Dorset Youth Council, they deliver a #YouthVoice manifesto to improve the lives of young people.

Prior to the election announcements many of the young people talked about their campaigns at a presentation hosted by Cllr Andrew Parry who gave thanks for the work of last year’s leaders and set the scene for the results with a quote from Winston Churchill: “Success is not final; failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.”

Manifestos ranged from making changes to school uniform to tackling mental health support in schools, and many candidates spoke about the importance of being taught life skills.

At the presentation Megan said: “The overarching aim of including young people in decision making though organisations like Dorset Youth Council is to allow them to take an active role in their community and its governance. Youth work allows us to convey our needs, our wants and our perspective directly to those with the power to act on them. It also provides the opportunity to take our own action. This is a great way to gain experience in decision making and knowledge of our democratic systems.”

A total of nine candidates stood for election and after weeks of campaigning 6,629 students voted (19 per cent turn out), and 19 Dorset schools and colleges participated in the elections.

Stanley, who returned this year to be re-elected as Dorset Council’s lead representative at Youth Parliament said: “I feel like I’m needed. If people didn’t want change, they wouldn’t have voted so it is my duty to represent young people in this position. I’m trying my best to represent young people in any way I can.”

Joining Stanley as a lead representative at Youth Parliament was Tilly. She said: “I’m excited about being able to talk to lots of people and improve the mental health system in school. I’m going to talk to lots of different people and try to reduce homework given out because it stressed me. There should be a counsellor in every school like Wales and Scotland.”

Elected as deputy lead representative, Cam said: “I want to improve the lives of young people in Dorset, particularly minority groups, and hopefully lay good grounds for future electees to carry on next year where we leave off.”

Cllr Andrew Parry, Dorset Council portfolio holder for Children, Education and Early Help said: “It is inspiring to see so many young people of Dorset finding the courage to put themselves forward for the process of election and this is simply a great achievement. Congratulations to all of our winners, thank you so much for all the work done by last year’s leaders and well done to everybody who has engaged in this important democratic process”.

You can find out more about Youth Parliament here: Dorset Council’s Youth Council, UK Youth Parliament

If you want to know more about activities and events that are being run by the Dorset Council Youth Voice team, email: youthvoice@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk. Or follow their activities on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook