With the average age of a councillor in Wales being 60, and candidates speaking of the abuse they face, being a councillor is not something for everyone.
BBC Wales research found that only 12 of Wales’ 22 councils had elected anyone under 30. On May 5, elections are being held in Wales' 22 council areas to appoint more than 1,200 candidates. However research has shown already 74 councillors have been elected simply because no-one stood against them.
You can see our guide to council elections here. Here are some of the young candidates hoping to be elected to councils in Wales:
Jamie Daniels - Conservatives
Another student, Jamie Daniels, 21, is studying for an economics degree at Cardiff University and is standing in Pontyclun Central. He says he's "always been interested in politics and public service [and] this is the perfect combination of the two".
"It is important to have candidates who are chosen on merit and that alone. If I am elected, I will be a councillor just as anyone else would be, my age has little to do with it," he said. "I plan to hold frequent surgeries if elected and make sure that I am contactable by all my residents, including the younger generation. I’d make myself accessible via social media to reach that demographic.”
If elected, he says he plans to "invest in our community and protect our high street. I'd like the council to grant Pontyclun town status. This will give us access to more regeneration schemes to boost our local economy. I would also like to push Network Rail to upgrade Pontyclun train station. Access for disabled users and pushchairs is not appropriate. They have been left behind for too long."
Leo Holmes - Labour
Cardiff University graduate Leo Holmes, 22, moved to Cardiff from Devon to pursue a Politics degree, but soon found himself falling in love with the city and unable to leave.
He is standing in the Gabalfa ward of Cardiff. Having lived in the city for almost five years, he has seen the city from both the perspective of a student and as a professional and says that will benefit him if elected as his ward has a mix of both people living there.
He says a lot of young people don't go into politics because of a sense of apathy and they "don’t know the power politics has to change people’s lives. I feel like young people are just being left out"
He has a background in politics, currently working for education minister Jeremy Miles MS but says your background shouldn't be a factor in standing. "It doesn’t really matter what your background is, as long as you care completely for the lives and the people you would serve"
To get more people involved he said he thinks councils should reach out and communicate with young residents more. "Young people at the centre of the conversation when creating and designing policy and it is fundamental to have young people right at the centre of the debate on every and any issue,"
Josh Rutty - Liberal Democrats
Josh, 18, wants to be elected to represent the Llanbadarn Fawr ward on Ceredigion County Council. Originally from Devon he is a student in the town studying politics and economics. He's only lived there a few months but says he understands his community and how best to represent it saying there is a division in the ward between the students and locals saying that rubbish is a particular issue in the area.
Standing at such a young age, he says means he could "help with the representation of young people" and he thinks having a student as a councillor in an area with lots of councillors will help younger voices be heard.
He partially attributes the lack of youth representation in politics to a lack of engagement with young people. With political parties not paying enough attention to the issues young people care about and without that engagement "it’s hard for young people to want to get more young people involved and engaged in politics".
"For younger people that don’t have the same inherent background in politics as me, it’s very hard to get into involved".
Cameron Luke Hughes - Plaid Cymru
Cameron is a 19-year-old law student with the Open University and is the Plaid Cymru candidate for his local ward Wynnstay in Wrexham. Over the pandemic, Cameron continued as a student and worked for track, trace and protect.
"I have a deep connection to the community there," the lifelong supporter of Wrexham AFC said. "I’ve always loved watching Wrexham, even before they got bought my Ryan and Rob and became this massive team known internationally. I love the new crowds and investment they’ve brought to the team and hope it can trickle into the town and help provide some of the investment and improvements needed".
"There isn’t enough young politicians and youth representation in Wales and beyond and that needs to be fixed. Young people from the age of 16 can vote and they can be active in politics and understand what’s going on in Wales from even younger than that. But they need encouragement from politicians and the parties. You don’t see many young people entering politics around the ages of 18-22 instead, you continually see politicians aged 30-40. This needs to change we need to see more youth representation. A majority of parties don’t do enough to engage with young people. It’s as if parties don’t really want to represent the new young generation in Wales."
And climate change is something he wants to tackle. "I have a little sister, she’s four. I don’t want to see her grow up in the dark, with no sun in smog and all the other horrible side-effects that will come with climate change. Sure I’m young and I will live through these experiences too, but I don’t think it’s myself that matters as much as securing a healthy and safe future for the next generation. However, that starts at the bottom with Councils implementing more environmentally friendly policies. If elected I will work hard to ensure Wrexham Council does as much as it can to minimise the impact of climate change in Wales as well as our contributions to it."
