A 17-year-old from Irlam has been elected to serve as Salford Youth Mayor.
Lewis Nelson, a student at Pendleton College, saw victory with 2,233 votes in the election.
This represents just under 64% of the vote, with a total of 3,520 votes cast.
Coming in second place was Walkden High School pupil Mitchell Mullin, who pulled in 1,287 votes.
All secondary schools in Salford were given the opportunity to allow their students to vote however not all schools supported this important campaign.
Around 20-30% of young people actually voted.
Lewis said, “This was a really good turnout for the amount of schools that did respond.
“It shows that young people really are interested in politics.”
The role of Salford Youth Mayor will be to represent young people to the Mayor of Salford, the council and director of Children’s Services.
Lewis will also work with organizations that support young people around Salford to improve the services they offer.
Lewis told SalfordOnline.com that his first manifesto in the role includes five main points: prioritising youth services, supporting the national living wage, helping to improving mental health services in Salford, highlighting youth poverty and most importantly allowing young people in Salford to have their say.
Lewis said, “There is a real issue on poverty in Salford specifically with young people, for example at Harrop Fold School in Walkden over 70% of students are on free school meals.
Throughout his campaign his social media account saw over 10,000 interactions, which bucks the suggestion that young people in Salford have no interest in politics.
He also created a campaign video and poster which was shown in schools.
Any young people who would like to raise concerns or issues to Lewis Nelson can contact him on Facebook by searching ‘Lewis Nelson Salford Youth Mayor’ or they can email him at: l.nelson54@outlook.com
Main image: Lewis Nelson, Salford Youth Mayor
