St Swithun’s student elected as West Hampshire’s Member of Youth Parliament

13-year-old St Swithun’s student Ishal Mahmud has been elected as the Member of Youth Parliament (MYP) for the West Hampshire constituency.

In her role as an MYP, Ishal will work with Members of Parliament and service providers in order to champion youth issues and to present the views of constituents. She will meet regularly with other MYPs to hold debates and plan campaigns on both a local and national level, including the annual debate within the Chamber of the House of Commons every November.

Ishal, who is a Year 8 pupil at St Swithun’s, said, ‘I am so honoured to be elected as the voice of local young people, and I want to use my role to bring about the actual changes and improvements that they want to see. More personally, I am most looking forward to the annual debate in the House of Commons, which I am hoping will be an inspirational experience.’

The UK Youth Parliament’s (UKYP) campaign for 2019 is 'Action Against Knife Crime'. The UKYP believes that this issue needs to be addressed following the increase in knife crime incidents over the last few years. In the 2018 Make Your Mark ballot, over 196,000 young people aged 11–18 voted for increased measures to be put in place to end knife crime.

St Swithun’s headmistress Jane Gandee said, ‘The school is very proud of Ishal. She put a lot of effort into her campaign, including visiting local schools to speak to their students and answer their questions. We are sure she will be a great ambassador both for the school and for Hampshire.’