UK Youth Parliament

The UK Youth Parliament aims to give a voice to young people aged between 11 and 18 years old. They seek for this voice to be heard by local and national government and services providers. The UK Youth Parliament consists of 600 Members of Youth Parliament (MYP), who are elected young people from all over the country. MYPs organise events, campaigns and influence decision makers. In a number of areas, MYPs work with youth councils or youth cabinets or young mayors in the area.

The Scottish Youth Parliament has tried to encourage higher levels of voting by experimenting with youth-friendly forms of communication. They have used a range of web-based social media, alongside more traditional methods such as radio campaigns, and they have positioned ballot boxes so that young people will find it more convenient to vote.

Read more about the Scottish Youth Parliament on A Pretty Simple Blog.

Examples of local authority practice

In the Better Engagement and Empowerment Community of Practice (CoP), you can find examples of local councils working with MYPs as part of their approach to engaging young people. This includes links to examples of MYPs working alongside other formal youth roles.

Better Engagement and Empowerment Community of Practice

Sources of support

The UK Youth Parliament website contains a variety of information including the context in which it works, along with the current campaigns and resources for youth workers wanting to support the Youth Parliament in their area.

UK Youth Parliament website