About Me

About me...

What led me to stand for UKYP...

Ever since I was little, I'd always thought of ways to correct things which were (as I saw it) wrong or in a bad state. Every now and then an idea would pop up, and I'd jot it down on paper (which becomes misplaced)! I never really knew how I would be able to carry out my ideas, but it was fun to pick out flaws and problems, and thinking of potential solutions.

I first heard about the UKYP (UK Youth Parliament) in school at Burnham Grammar in early 2009, where I watched a DVD of 2009's candidates standing for MYP and took part in voting. Having never heard of UKYP before, I decided to look it up and realised that it is a youth organisation in which MYPs carry out campaigns and represent young people in their area.

Almost a year after, UKYP sprung back up again. I saw posters up around school looking for potential candidates for 2010's MYP, and I thought about giving it a go, but it was a short-lived idea as I am a shy person with pretty average self confidence. I spoke about this opportunity with my brother, who strongly encouraged me to give it a try, to build up my confidence and to do what I wanted to do - make changes.

Thanks to encouragement from my brother and school, I ran as a candidate for South Bucks and Chilterns and was elected as the Deputy MYP in March 2010. Due to personal reasons, the MYP for the constituency stepped down, so I became the MYP.

The process of the election...

The whole process from potential candidate, candidate and to member lasted around 6 months - (Oct 09-Mar 10). In October, I attended a UKYP workshop in Aylsebury, where an internal election was held to shortlist candidates for each constituency in Buckinghamshire. Having gone through that process I became one of five candidates standing for my area, and we filmed our manifestos onto DVD in December 2009 to be sent around schools for the election. In February, the election was held across schools in Bucks.