UK Youth Parliament

UKYP enables young people to use their energy and passion to change the world for the better. Run by young people for young people, UKYP provides opportunities for 11-18 year-olds to use their voice in creative ways to bring about social change.

How does UKYP work?

The UK Youth Parliament has 600 elected MYPs (Members of Youth Parliament) aged 11-18. MYPs are elected in annual youth elections throughout the UK. Any young person aged 11-18 can stand or vote. In the past two years one million young people have voted in UK Youth Parliament elections.

Once elected MYPs organise events and projects, run campaigns and influence decision makers on the issues which matter most to young people. All MYPs meet once a year at the UK Youth Parliament Annual Sitting.

UKYP Campaigns

Each year thousands of young people help decide the UK Youth Parliament's campaign priorities. The current campaigns focus on reducing the cost of bus travel for young people, improving political education and abolishing university tuition fees. For more about UKYP campaigns, click here.

What UKYP believe in

The views of young people are represented in the UK Youth Parliament Manifesto, which contains statements on the issues MYPs think are most important. Click here to read the manifesto.

Want to set up a UKYP programme in youth Local Authority?

Download our guide here.

Visit the UKYP website...

BYC and UKYP

After working in partnership for many years, The British Youth Council took over the management of UKYP in April 2011. BYC was initially awarded a contract from the Department of Education to provide a support service to run UK Youth Parliament activities for 6 months. This contract was extended for a further 18 months in October 2011 as part of BYC's Youth Voice initiative. Find out more about Youth Voice...

Download the 2013 UK Youth Parliament Handbook