Young NI Councillors: The Challenges and Rewards
By Claire Dickson
Putting yourself up for election can be a daunting experience, not least as a young person running alongside candidates with vast amounts of experience under their belt. I spoke to two of these young people who ran in the 2023 NI Council elections about the rewards and challenges that come with the job, how they maintain a healthy work/life balance and what drove them to put their ‘hat in the ring.’
Stewart Wilson is a 26-year-old Ulster Unionist Councillor from Ballyclare.
‘As a young Councillor I’d say there are a few difficulties, it can often be daunting when debates get very technical and complex, but you just have to treat every day as a learning exercise and ‘fake it til you make it.’
Wilson also finds the unpredictability of life in your 20s a challenge alongside the responsibility of being a Councillor. ‘Councillors are either retired or in senior positions within their professions, so their lives are quite settled, and they have a degree of flexibility to manage their schedule. At the minute I’m juggling two jobs, in the middle of buying my first house while trying to find time for my girlfriend and maintain some form of a social life!’
A keen advocate for young people getting involved in politics though, Wilson argues that there are also many positives to being a Councillor. ‘It’s very important for young people to be involved. I suppose that when I was considering whether to stand or not it definitely played a role in my decision. I put part of my success in getting elected down to the fact that I acted on things I wanted to see from politicians as a private citizen myself.’
Lewis Boyle was voted into Antrim and Newtownabbey Council just days before sitting his A-levels. He is also the youngest ever elected political representative in Northern Ireland.
He initially got involved in politics out of frustration with the status quo. ‘I joined Alliance and got directly involved because I was (and still am) incredibly frustrated with Northern Irish Politics, and the inaction of other elected representatives on key issues.’
Although he admits there are challenges to being a young person in elected office, a strong interest in improving the daily lives of constituents makes the task in hand rewarding.
‘Prior to my election, there were no councillors on Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council under the age of 25, yet 30 per cent of the population of the Borough was in that age demographic. I hope to bring more young people’s voices and opinions to the chamber.’
What these young people can bring to the elected political table will be seen across their individual terms in office, but perhaps a pertinent takeaway from these two perspectives is that young people cannot be set aside as tomorrow’s leaders but should be nurtured as today’s.
Edited by: David Williamson
Claire Dickson is Head of the Scoop and is a 3rd year Politics student at QUB.