THE winner of the election to represent Stockton as its youth MP has been announced.

Jess Hugill from Conyers School, Yarm, has been elected as Stockton Borough’s MP for the UK’s Youth Parliament.

She polled 2,464 votes and her Deputy is Kushan Bhardwaj, aged 15, from St Patrick’s Catholic College, Thornaby who received 2,071 votes.

More than 9,000 pupils from 11 schools were invited to vote in the elections which were held in schools for the second time this year.

They were run exactly like formal elections for national MPs, with secret ballots and carefully controlled counts and generated an impressive 69.7 per cent turnout.

Jess, 16, from Ingleby Barwick, said: “I believe strongly in young people’s campaigns, particularly those around mental health issues and allowing 16 and 17-year-olds to vote.”

Cllr Ann McCoy, Stockton Council, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, added: “It’s very important that we engage young people in democracy and the Youth Parliament elections are a great way of doing so. I look forward to working with Jess and Kushan in the future on the issues that matter most to them.”

The other candidates who stood for election were Steph Schiller (Northfield School), Ethan Jackson-McGlade (North Shore Academy), Stephen Jones (Our Lady & St Bede Catholic Academy) and Luke Marsden (Thornaby Academy).