UK Youth Parliament
Hi, my name is Ushenka and I am the Member of UK Youth Parliament (MYP) for the Vale of Glamorgan.
I am very thankful for being elected into this role and I am now in my second year of representing the youth of the Vale of Glamorgan at UK Youth Parliament (UKYP). It is my job to promote the Make Your Mark campaign locally and then represent the Vale at the House of Commons annual debate.
This year over 1 million 11-18 year olds voted in the Make Your Mark campaign and MYP’s debated the top five issues for young people on 9th November 2018:
- Votes for 16 and 17 year olds in all public election
- Tackling Homelessness
- Equal Pay, Equal Work
- Mental Health
- Put an end to Knife crime
This year I was able to speak on the topic of mental health which I am very passionate about. The opportunity to be MYP has helped me make new friends from across the UK, develop my public speaking skills by speaking in the House of Commons to Jeremy Corbyn, the Speaker of the House, and other MYPs about issues important to young people.
At the end of the debate we voted and UK Youth Parliament has chosen to focus on lowering the voting age to 16 and knife crime in 2019.
