Ethan Marriott elected as Rochdale’s Member of Youth Parliament

Tabitha Rusden and Ethan Marriott celebrate their election as Deputy MYP and MYP respectively

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A Falinge Park high school student was officially announced as Rochdale’s new Member of Youth Parliament (MYP) at a ceremony at Rochdale Town Hall on Wednesday 11 February.

Year 11 student Ethan Marriott takes over the title from the out-going MYP Leon Hollinrake, and was elected after beating five other candidates with nearly 9,000 votes cast from secondary schools and sixth form colleges throughout the borough.

Ethan, who is studying for his GCSEs, won 27% of votes with his manifesto to campaign for exam resits to be reinstated, for young people to be portrayed in a more positive light by the media and for youth mental health issues to be given more attention, with more confidential help and advice to be made available.

In his acceptance speech, Ethan said: “Politics isn’t something for adults to do and for us to give a confused shrug. It’s about human interaction. I’d like to thank the young people of Rochdale for voting – 9,000 votes shows that democracy is for young people and that we can have our say.”

Fellow Falinge student Tabitha Rusden, 14, was re-elected as Deputy MYP and will continue her work which last year saw her organise the Mayor’s Youth Awards, a Question Time Event and the local Youth Forum, as well as attending every meeting of the North West Youth Forum, Youthforia.

The four unsuccessful candidates, Kenya Stirling, Nazia Farooque, Courtney Holt and Iqra Ali, will continue to work closely on local matters with Rochdale’s Youth Cabinet.

The elections were organised by Rochdale Youth Service, with Wednesday’s ceremony attended by Council Leader, Councillor Richard Farnell, Conservative Leader Councillor Ashley Dearnley, and Councillor Donna Martin, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services. They were joined by Chief Executive Steve Rumbelow, Director of Children’s Services Gail Hopper and Assistant Director Early Help and Schools, Sandra Bowness.

Councillor Farnell said: “The Member of Youth Parliament was first introduced in 2001 and Rochdale was there right from the start. Our first election back then involved 40 votes, so to have 9,000 young people come out and decide who they want to speak for them represents an incredibly strong mandate for Ethan and Tabitha to have their voices heard. I’d also like to thank the other candidates for their tremendous input – they deserve a lot of credit for being prepared to put themselves forward to represent their peers.

“The general election is coming up and there will be a lot of senior politicians coming to Rochdale to campaign. My advice to Ethan and Tabitha is to make the most of this opportunity, to put your issues before them and to challenge them about exam resits, the reputation of young people and youth mental health. You have a stake in our future and a right to be heard.”