Peterborough youth MP calls for more youngsters to get involved in politics

Ayesha Khan was elected into the post in March, and the 17-year-old has been working with Fixers - a youth charity - to encourage more young people to not only get involved in politics, but to vote during elections.

The 17-year-old said: “My mum and dad are quite political and we always used to discuss politics across the dinner table.

“I was always told you can be whatever you want and when I was very young and naïve, I wanted to be the Queen because I thought that was where the power was.

“I realised there were burning injustices happening all around the world and if you want to make a change, politics is where you need to be,’ she says.

“Our future and our children’s future is all being decided right now. So my message to young people is that you should be engaged in politics – even if it’s just by voting when you get the chance.”

Ayesha - who now dreams of becoming the chancellor - has made a video showing how young people can harness politics to make changes.

During the creation of her Fixers film Ayesha spoke with Jenny Weeden, Peterborough Council’s Youth Engagement Officer, and asked if she thought that progress is being made.

Jenny says that polls show that more 18-24-year-olds did vote in the last election. She said: ‘I think that giving 16 and 17-year-olds the vote would be a great start. At the moment the government doesn’t have to write policies for teenagers and young people because they’re not trying to win their vote.

“So I think by doing that we would get more young people involved and engaged in politics.”

Ayesha added: “My message to young people is that we live in trying times. Everything is at stake.

“Your future and your children’s future is at stake. That is why you should be involved, get engaged and be involved in politics to push your message across.”

Fixers works with young people aged 16-25 across the UK by providing them with resources to help them campaign on issues they feel strongly about.

The charity has helped more than 19,000 youngsters across the UK to have a voice in their community on issues such as cyber-bullying, self-harm, suicide or transphobia.

For more information or to make a donation to fund more Fixer projects, visit www.fixers.org.uk