A TEENAGER from Wincham has appeared in The House of Commons to give the borough’s young people a voice in Westminster.

Jess Leigh is a representative for Cheshire West and Chester in the UK Youth Parliament, which met on Friday, November 10.

The 16-year-old, who attends St Nicholas Catholic High School, was part of a meeting to discuss citizenship education – known as ‘curriculum for life’ – and votes at 16, which was discussed by MPs earlier this month.

Jess told the Guardian: “It was an amazing day of young people being full of passion for democracy and wanting to make a difference.

“I didn’t get the chance to speak myself. One person was asked to speak from the north west and everybody jumped up to try and have their say.

“But it was great to meet so many like-minded young people.”

Although she wasn’t able to speak on the issue in the House of Commons, Jess firmly believes young people should have the chance to vote aged 16 or 17.

“We can contribute to society through employment, join the military or start a family at 16, but we can’t contribute by voting,” she said.

“I believe that if young people were given a vote for Brexit or the recent General Election then the results might have been completely different.”

Jess’ long-term ambition is to do volunteering work, and she admits that the rowdiness of Westminster puts her off pursuing politics as a career.

She added: “I would love to go into politics but there is so much hate. I wish it was more like the way we conducted ourselves – we were kind to one another, and there was lots of support for each other.”

Today, Friday, Jess is holding a concert at Wincham Community Centre to fund a volunteering trip to Nicaragua. For details call 01565 734464.