Nine young Highlanders put themselves forward for Scottish Youth elections

The call from the Scottish Youth Parliament for Highland young people to stand up for what they believe in and make a difference in their communities has been met with nine candidates putting themselves forward to be elected onto the Scottish Youth Parliament this month.

The Scottish Youth Parliament is a national organisation which provides young people aged 14-25 with a platform to represent young people across Scotland and an opportunity to influence politicians and formal decision makers.

There are two positions available per constituency.

In Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch the election is uncontested so the applicants Paige Shepherd from Cromarty and Oliver Smith from Fortrose will automatically take up their positions on the Scottish Youth Parliament after the 25th March.

For the Caithness, Sutherland and Ross constituency there are three candidates standing for election.  They are Andrew Sinclair from Wick, Darren MacRae from Dornoch and John Erskine from Conon Bridge.

In the Inverness and Nairn constituency four candidates are standing. They are Ainya Taylor from Inverness and three candidates all from Nairn - Gregor Stuart, Kirsten Jenkins and Niall McCulloch.

Between 14 and 25 March anyone aged 14-25 will have the opportunity to vote for one candidate for their constituency by going on line and using their Young Scot card number. The voting link can be accessed nearer the time through www.syp.org.uk; www.hyv.org.uk and www.youngscot.org websites.  Anyone without a Young Scot card can still vote by getting a special PIN from their local Youth Worker.