Tom wants to be a youth MP
11:00am Sunday 12th February 2012 in Latest News By Mike Wilkinson, Senior Reporter
UK Youth Parliament candidate Tom Woods
A teenager in Trowbridge, with ambitions to become an MP, has set his sights on getting elected as West Wiltshire’s UK Youth Parliament representative.
Tom Woods, 16, an Oxbridge candidate in Clare-ndon College’s sixth form, is hoping to claim victory at midnight on Sunday, when text voting closes for the UK Youth Parliament elections.
If he is successful, Tom will meet Wiltshire’s other YMPs – Youth Members of Parlia-ment – twice a month and will be drafted into the Commons for one debate during his term.
Tom, of Spring Meadows, said: “I have always been interested in politics and one day I’d love to be an MP, so I was looking around for something to get involved with.
“It is not as if the young people of West Wiltshire don’t have a voice, it is just that they do not know how to use it. If I am elected, I want to be able to speak up for young people in our area.
“Last time I checked, I was 30 votes in the lead, but it is going to be a close race. I’m hoping people will drop a text and cast their vote. It’s easy.”
His key election pledge is to bring up the issue of public transport and fare subsidies for young people.
He has enlisted three fri-ends to run his campaign to woo voters, aged 11 to 19, in Bradford on Avon, Melk-sham, Trowbridge, Warmin-ster and Westbury.
The team have put videos on YouTube and displayed election posters in school.
Tom’s history teacher, Rupert Moreton, said: “Tom is an extremely able and conscientious young man, able to read between the lines and get to the nub an issue.
“He has an understanding of the real world around him and the issues facing young people in Wiltshire today.”
To vote for Tom, send a free text with the words “Elect Tom” to 80800. Only one vote is accepted per phone.
