North Northamptonshire Council seeks candidates for Members of Youth Parliament
11 February 2025
North Northamptonshire Council, in collaboration with Clubs for Young People Northamptonshire, is launching a campaign to seek out candidates for Members of Youth Parliament (MYPs).
The partnership is recruiting two young people from the North of the county to represent the voices of young people locally and nationally.
The elected individuals, MYPs for short, will be expected to attend Westminster when Youth Parliament is sitting, which is twice yearly.
MYP’s will generally be elected for a period of two years. However, as we are about to enter the second year of a rolling programme, those elected this year will be in place for one year only.
The campaign launches today across North Northamptonshire and the closing date will be 24 February 2025.
To be eligible to stand for the position of MYP, individuals must be aged 11 - 18 years and primarily live in North Northamptonshire.
Young people who are interested in getting involved are required to complete a Manifesto. Contained in which is a request for the Young Person to identify three issues, one that relates specifically to a North Northamptonshire issue, a second that has a national interest, and the third being more of a global matter.
All submitted Manifestos will be published online and will be accessible through the MYP Youth Pages on the council's website under the Youth Democracy Pages in the Local democracy and civic functions | North Northamptonshire Council section.
Once published, young voters will have the chance to read each candidate’s document and select, online, the anonymised Manifesto that appeals most to them. This will, in essence, be their vote. Once voting is complete, the two individuals with the most votes across North Northamptonshire will be taken on as the MYP’s for North Northamptonshire.
This is the chance for all of our young people across North Northamptonshire to take part in the democratic process and sit on the UK Youth Parliament representing the views of young people in their area and giving them a voice on a national stage. This is a fantastic opportunity and I urge the young people of North Northamptonshire to come forward with their manifestos.Cllr Edwards, Portfolio Holder for Children, Families, Education & Skills
I can't wait to hear about the young candidates which come forward and I'm looking forward to working with those elected members who will be sitting on the UK Youth Parliament to really make a difference here in North Northamptonshire as well as on a national level.Jason Smithers, Leader of North Northamptonshire Council
The partnership will also be seeking two Deputy MYP’s but these will come from the recently elected Youth Advisory Council. Although The deputies will not be able to attend parliamentary sittings, they can still deputise for the MYP’s during times of absence and at other events outside of Parliament. In addition to the above, the MYP’s will have an automatic right to sit on North Northamptonshire’s Youth Advisory Council.
The voting period will run from the 3 – 10 March 2025, and those elected to post will be confirmed by the 13 March on the Council's Website.
Once the election is complete, we are hoping to have the two young elected Members of Youth Parliament individuals sitting in Westminster on 1 April 2025, representing North Northamptonshire.
To access the voting platform, young voters will need to have access to a code. Codes will be available from schools, some libraries and Family Hubs Centres in Kettering and Wellingborough.