KELLEN Hadfield, the Member of Youth Parliament for Redcar and Cleveland, has taken part in a debate in the House of Commons to discuss lowering the voting age to 16.
Decreasing the voting age was one of the most popular topics to come from the national ‘Make Your Mark’ campaign which involved school pupils from across the UK.
The ninth Youth Parliament debate in the House of Commons was chaired by the Speaker, the Rt Hon John Bercow MP, as hundreds of MYPs represented young people in their respective areas and made their views heard.
As well as discussing lowering the voting age, there was also a debate on a ‘curriculum for life’, which was listed as a priority campaign for England. The ‘curriculum for life’ issue suggests that schools should cover topics including finance, sex and relationships, and politics in the school curriculum to better prepare young people for the future.
Kellen Hadfield said: “I had an amazing experience taking part in the debates in the House of Commons and it was an honour to represent the young people of Redcar and Cleveland,”
MYPs will now be formally launching the campaigns during their day of action in January with the UK Youth Parliament beginning to develop actions on how the campaigns can be promoted.
To find out more, go to www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk.