'I'm a councillor…' winner announced
The voting is over, the votes have been counted, and with 61%
of the final vote, Barry Councillor Richard Bertin has been crowned
the Vale of Glamorgan Youth Champion 2007 after winning the Vale
Council's 'I'm a councillor, get me out of here!' contest.
Cllr Bertin had gone head to head with five other Vale of
Glamorgan councillors in the fun event to help encourage local
young people to get involved in democracy.
Over two weeks, 'I'm a councillor, get me out of here' saw
voters of the future from schools across the Vale assess the
councillors' manifestos and how they responded to the students'
questions and concerns posed via emails and webchats. Councillors
were then 'evicted' one by one until the overall champion, Cllr
Bertin, remained.
Local young people really embraced the event, part of Local
Democracy Week, and raised issues ranging from the need for more
youth facilities to health in schools.
Cllr Richard Bertin, who at 35 is currently the youngest member
of the Vale Council, was extremely pleased that he had won. He
said: “I am delighted to have to taken part in this contest. It was
really interesting, and the questions were tough. I will be taking
the young people's concerns forward to the council and will
hopefully come up with some action.”
He added: “I must say a big thank you to all the young people
and teachers that took part and also thank you to the other five
councillors. The event has been a huge success.”