Youth is expected to enjoy a real voice in the new-look North Ayrshire Council, says a councillor who broke the mould five years ago.
Shaun Macaulay, 29, was elected to Irvine West with SNP party colleague Chloe Robertson, who at 22 is thought to have become the youngest ever councillor in the authority.
And he is impressed with the inroads being made by the new generation.
Shaun was the youngest elected councillor by some way in 2017 and believes the fearlessness of youth makes democracy work really well.
He said: “When I was elected in 2017 I was the youngest by quite a distance as the next youngest was well into their 30s. It was great to see Chloe being elected as she ran a good campaign.
“Nairn McDonald, who is in his 20s was elected in Irvine East and you have another young councillor in Saltcoats and Stevenston [Cameron Inglis].”
Shaun is encouraged that there was a much better representation of young people in the council this time around.
He added: “Young people give folk a different option.
“I’ve always felt they make good decisions as young people and things like climate change and social justice are the issues they are most concerned about.
"I have spent a lot of time with young people since being elected. And when the Scottish Youth Parliament came here I wish people could have heard what was going on in terms of the ambition the members had and their fearlessness."
"We have a very active youth wing across Scotland and that's because they are inspired by the SNP.
"The council the people of North Ayrshire have just elected looks much more like the communities in North Ayrshire.
“We need more women involved and also people of ethnic minority backgrounds but we are getting there.
“When young people see younger candidates they have a good connection with them. We worked really hard on the big issues like the fuel crisis and cost of living,
“As young people we feel we have a voice in the chamber to talk about what concerns them like climate change and renewables. Maybe that’s not a priority for some of the older councillors.
"I would encourage other young people from whatever party to get involved in politics as their voices are valued. In a poll it was found that climate change was the number one priority for young people and we spoke about that in the campaign. We were hopeful we could do well.
"The SNP have been in government since 2007 and still winning elections is quite an extraordinary feat and we’re delighted to have won so comfortably. Marie Burns is a great leader with vast experience and she is really good at helping to mentor the younger candidates."
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