MYP's outside The County Buildings, Stafford

By Ella Darlington: Winning candidates in the Staffordshire Youth Parliament elections have been unveiled – along with some of the highest voting rates in the UK.

Votes for the Staffordshire elections rose by 60 per cent on the previous year, with 24,194 11-18-year-olds casting a vote.

Jack Bourne was announced as member of youth parliament (MYP) for North Staffordshire. For the South it was Jess Gilbert, Sam Smith for East, and Charlotte Kelly for West.

Ian Parry, Lead cabinet member for children and young people in Stafford, said “It’s wonderful to see so many young people engaging in the democratic process.”

Jack Bourne, 15, new MYP for North Staffordshire, said: ”I want to work on raising the importance of young people’s views, and improving their media image.”

Cllr Parry added: “Democracy is a fairly brutal arena and we have to be tough enough to accept all of that.”

Previous MYPs Sam Hale and James Greenhalgh have enjoyed past successes such as Greenhalgh’s “access denied” campaign which alerted MPs to rocketing university fees.

James said: “The way to get young people interested and voting is to speak about issues that directly affect them.”

Sam spoke of his campaign for Cheadle youths, against £2,500 littering fees. He said: “The council doesn’t even consult with young people before making decisions.”