Local Scottish Youth Parliament candidates

Potential Edinburgh members for the Scottish Youth Parliament are about to hit the campaign trail. Edinburgh has six seats in the non-party political organisation, made up of 150 young people aged 14-25. There are 27 prospective Edinburgh SYP members campaigning in six areas in the city: Central, Eastern, Northern and Leith, Pentlands, Southern and Western. Some of them are at school, college and university, while others are in employment. They are using the SYP Edinburgh Facebook page to post mini-manifestos and campaign videos. In the running: Central Charlie Brinkhurst Cuff, 17, Broughton High School Chris Glendinning, 16, George Heriot's School Winnie Wen, 19, Stevenson College Finlay Young, 16, Fettes College Eastern Billy Foreman, 16, Holy Rood High School Natalie Maceira. 16, Holy Rood High School Ryan Ross, 16, Portobello High School Northern and Leith Chanel Alexander, 23, Telford College Terri Miller, 15, Telford College Kelley Temple, 22, University of Strathclyde Fiona Scott, Telford College Pentlands Gael Anderson, 16, Currie Community High School Sara Ansari, 16, Firrhill High School Ross Arthur, 14, Royal High School Rhiannon Lee, 16, Currie Community High School Paul Murphy, 22, Heriot-Watt University Michael Shearer, 17, in employment Paul Sloan, 18, Telford College Southern Malcolm Boyd, 15, James Gillespie's High School Nathan Duncan, 16, Boroughmuir High School Lindsay Hunter, 21, University of Stirling Robin Quinn, 15, George Watson's College Eilidh Still, 15, Boroughmuir High School Western John Beaton, 17, Queensferry High School John Bendo, 15, St Augustines Jahura Hussain, 15, Royal High School Tom Quinn, 17, Craigmount High School The increased number of candidates, from 18 to 27, was welcomed by city education leader Marilyne MacLaren. She said: "This increase in candidates just goes to show that despite claims in some quarters of apathy and disinterest; young people in Edinburgh today have a passionate awareness of both their local community and the wider world around them. "Standing for the Scottish Youth Parliament will provide all the candidates with an ideal platform to present the issues that matter to them to a wider audience and I look forward to following their campaigns with interest." With advice from the council's Youngedinburgh team, the candidates are working on their election campaigns ahead of the elections on 14-25 March.