26th Session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities – 25 to 27 March 2014

Is there a real place for young people in local and regional democracy?

Statement by Jacob SAKIL, Former Young Mayor of the London Borough of Lewisham, United Kingdom

In discussing if there is a real place for young people in local and regional democracy, I’m going to be talking about my experience as the Young Mayor of Lewisham and my continuing involvement in politics and speaking and representing young people’s  experiences and aspirations locally, in south east London, in the UK and in parts of Europe.

I live in Lewisham borough which is in the south east of London, though originally I am from Brooklyn, New York. My family returned to Lewisham when I was 8 years old. Lewisham has a young and a diverse population with over 70% of young people in school from a BME background.

We are a significant proportion of the population with an investment and contribution to make. It is our community that we live in and our families live in and we want to have a say and make it better.

We have a chance to get involved through the Young Mayor Programme and learn how democracy works;

In our borough young people from 13-18 are able to stand as a candidate in the mayoral elections, put their ideas forward and take a chance to be a leader within our community and local government.

The election takes place in all the secondary schools and colleges in Lewisham and young people aged 11- 17yrs who live or go to school in the borough can participate.  The average turn out is 49.4 % which is 9417 young people. Which is considerably more than our adult equivalents, the young mayor is in post for a year and has a budget of £30000 to spend.

Having a chance to become Young Mayor of Lewisham has given me a real active opportunity to use the democratic process as a means for engaging change in London. When we talk about politics we discuss opinions, ideas and try to create lasting solutions that can create a better society. For me it only makes sense that future generations have a voice from the beginning, this means having an elected youth representative within local government can enable programs to be taken from idea to implementation with young people being at the heart of every stage. 

Some of the challenges I have seen in Lewisham are around employment and how as young people we can continue to contribute and be able to support ourselves. What pathways are open for all, not just a few, young people find themselves taking all different routes to try and make a life for themselves, support their families and their communities. Some of those routes are more positive than others.

I have been keen to help young people set up in business to try and make an income but also so they can be creative and independent, learn new skills and know their ideas and opinions are as important as anyone else’s. I have set up my own business and know how hard it is to try and make things work.

 Another challenge which we’ve talked about is how we support young people’s wellbeing and mental health as they sometimes struggle with the demands and stresses which are put on them, this too has now been recognised as an issue which needs support by the borough.

These are real issues for young people and we need a way to try and address them through democratic means as active participants of society, for us in Lewisham the Young Mayor Programme has been a way of trying to do that.

Why does this matter? What change will this have? anyone who is encouraged to build together gain a level of investment and in this case participation within regional democracy allows our youth to realize that they are not only valued but what they believe can sculpt and transform the world we live in.

If democracy is championed as the best way to govern then we must ensure the youngest generations are a part of this process from the inception to the end. True leadership is most effective when we allow access to all who choose to take on that challenge and it starts with the youth of today.

We have the Young Mayor Programme which is one way to encourage and support young people to be part of local democracy. But I have met many young people locally, across the UK and in other parts of Europe who are involved in their local communities, in local democracy and decision making in many different ways, concerned with many different issues but all have one thing in common they are interested and passionate and committed to making a change.