The new elected members at Forest Road Young Hackney Centre. Pic: Adam Holt

This year’s Hackney Youth Parliament election saw a record turnout as 24 11-19 year olds were elected to represent their borough.

The elected representatives were announced on Wednesday, October 15 at the Forest Road Young Hackney Centre, and around 100 children turned up to hear the results.

A 47 per cent turnout for the election meant that competition was intense.

The Hackney Youth Parliament is aimed at children and teenagers aged 11-19 and gives them a chance to get involved in a number of local council decisions.

Beth Foster-Ogg, 17, newly elected member of Hackney Youth Parliament, told Hackney council: “I’m looking forward to working with the other members and talking to young people across Hackney. I’m keen to work on issues I care about like housing, educating people about mental health and FGM. I also want to make young people more politically engaged.”

Another member, Luke Odunaike, 16, said: “I’m really excited to have been elected. I want to encourage young people to have the right mindset, to make sure they follow the right paths and access all the opportunities available to them.”

Before the results were released hopefuls were invited to a Q&A session with the Mayor, an annual event that is part of Local Democracy Week.

Engaging the youth with the things that affect them the most, questions were raised over lowering the voting age to 16 and work experience opportunities.

The parliament is expected to meet every week and they are due to start their first campaign in the coming months.

You can find a list of all the elected members of Hackney Youth Parliament here.