A pupil at Lord Williams’s School has been elected as a member of the UK Youth Parliament representing South Oxfordshire.
Michael Oatway, a Year 12 Sixth Form student at the Thame school, won the majority of votes after a hotly fought election ahead of 11 other candidates from across South Oxfordshire.
The results were announced at Oxford Town Hall on at the end of last month where it emerged Michael secured more than 1,100 of the 7,500 votes cast at Oxfordshire schools.
The UK Youth Parliament gives young people aged between 11 and 18 the opportunity to express their views on the issues that affect them. The current manifesto includes lowering the voting age, re-writing the national curriculum and providing more jobs for young people.
Michael says he is an active member of the Lord Williams’s Youth Theatre and a keen student of Government and politics. He also has a passion for public service and has already completed a work placement at the House of Commons.
He said: “I am thrilled ... I look forward to the challenges during my term in office and aim to make a difference to the young people in the area.”
School head, David Wybron,paid tribute to his pupil, saying: “We are very proud of Michael’s achievement.”