300 Young People take over Parliament

On Friday 30th of October over 300 hundred members of the UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) made history as they held their annual debate in the House of Commons. It was the first time that anyone other than a sitting MP had been allowed to sit on the green benches of the debating chamber. The UKYP have 600 elected members aged between 11-18. More than 50% of members of the Youth Parliament are female, 22% from ethnic minorities and 3% with disabilities. In the last two years over one million young people have participated in elections.

The debate held on Friday was the culmination of a long campaign to allow members of the Youth Parliament to sit in the Commons and saw members discuss five topics: University fees, Youth Crime and how to tackle it, Public transport for young people, Jobs for young people and the economy and Lowering the voting age to 16.

At the end of the debate, a vote was taken on which of these issues the Youth Parliament would like the government to respond on. Lowering the voting age won the vote, gaining 107 votes. Commenting on the day's event, John Bercow MP who chaired the debate, said: "I am conscious of the strengths of the Youth Parliament and the skills that it embodies. I and my colleagues all greatly respect, amongst other things, just how inclusive your parliament is. Particularly in the sense that it is substantially more representative of the country as a whole than the current House of Commons"

The debate in the Chamber was lively with participants providing impassioned speeches, perfect soundbites for the mass of reporters who'd gathered as well as the odd joke at the expense of real politicians. Friday may well have provided us with a glimpse of the MP's of the future!

Hannah Manson (Intern, Citizenship Education Programme)