Young Mayor hopefuls
star in BBC Two documentary
22 February, 2010
A documentary showcasing the 2009-10 Newham Young Mayor election
will air on BBC TWO this Saturday.
The campaign to elect Newham's third Young Mayor and
Youth Council took place last September. An initial primary
election whittled 56 candidates down to 15, and then a final
election awarded Kaycee de Belen with the chain of office.
The documentary follows the election process and three of the
candidates, Rosie Young (16), Mariam Azim (15) and Adil Yousaf (14)
as they work hard developing their election manifestos and
campaigning to win the votes of Newham's young people.
It culminates with the excitement of the election night when more
than 7,000 votes were counted to declare Kaycee the eventual
winner.
As the youngest borough in the UK, with more young people under 18
than anywhere else in Britain, competition is tough and the
campaign fast-paced to elect the borough's principal young
representative.
Kaycee said: "The election campaign last year was so busy and I
enjoyed every minute of it. Getting people to vote for you is not
as easy as it sounds but I learned to really listen and learn about
what matters to young people in Newham.
"I hope that this documentary will give people an insider's view of
the election, so they can see how we had to put heart and soul into
our own campaigns and manifestos, and then to top it all there was
the electrifying suspense of the count and declaration of the
result on election night.
"It's also a great opportunity for young people around the country
to see how exciting it is to run for election and represent your
peers - I think it's really important for young people to know that
politics and democracy is not just for adults - the decisions made
by government and local councils affect us all and it's right that
young people have a say.
"I know it was a really worthwhile experience for me and I'm
looking forward to reliving the action all over
again."