Record numbers make their mark in youth vote campaign

Member of Youth Parliament Sarah Mahmood

The annual Make Your Mark campaign saw a record number of young people from across the Rochdale borough cast their vote.

This year 8,878 votes were cast across Rochdale, over 3,300 more than last year’s event (5,570 votes). 

Sixteen-year-old Member of Youth Parliament for Rochdale, Sarah Mahmood, who attends Hollingworth Academy School, led the campaign in Rochdale and secured the highest number of votes in the whole of the North West, with 3,000 votes generated.

Sarah was delighted with the campaign and said: “The response has been amazing, I’m delighted to have secured the most votes across the North West and to see record figures for the Rochdale borough, it really shows that young people are interested in democracy.”

Rochdale borough voted ‘Work Experience Hubs for 11-18 years’ as their top priority, 1,461 votes (16%). This topic made it in to the national results and the following five topics will be debated in the House of Commons on 10 November 2017, by the Youth Parliament.

• A curriculum to prepare us for life – schools should cover topics including finance, sex and relationships and politics in the curriculum.Transport – Make public transport cheaper, better and accessible for all.
• Work Experience hubs for 11-18 year olds – knowing where to find work experience can be challenging. Government should create an online space to help young people with this.
• Votes at 16 – give 16 and 17 year olds the right to vote in all elections/referendums.
• Protect LGBT+ People – lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender+ young people deserve to be treated the same as everyone else; discrimination needs to be challenged.