Debate Lead Candidates
East Midlands
1. Adam Hoyes, Derbyshire
2. Ateeya Patel, Leicester City
3. Shakeel Hajat, Derbyshire
4. Uzair Hashmi, Nottingham
5. RON (Re-Open Nominations)
Adam Hoyes, Derbyshire
Why are you passionate about the work that you do as an MYP?
One of my core beliefs is that the young people of today are among the most important
in the country because they are the future decision makers, business owners and
members of the public, and one of us is of course the future prime minister. This is why I
believe that young people need to be represented at a high level. Without effective
representation, it’s all too easy for politicians to forget young people when creating and
making changes to legislation, and so I am passionate about working as an MYP to
make sure that young people are taken into account and get their voice heard on the
issues that matter to them. My work as an MYP helps my work to improve the local area
which I represent, working with a number of parties such as town councils, schools and
my MP to achieve this.
What will you get out of being a debate lead at the House of Commons?
Since joining Derbyshire Youth Council in 2010, I’ve grown in confidence and developed
public speaking skills. This, and attending the UKYP debate in the House of Commons
in 2011 inspired me to get elected as debate lead. I see this opportunity as the pinnacle
of my involvement in youth democracy. I would use the opportunity to further develop
my skills and experience in public speaking and speech making. I believe these skills
will help me in the future in both my role as an MYP, and also in any other fields of both
work and education, and allow me to develop myself in the best way I can. I would be
honoured to represent the young people of East Midlands as a debate lead, and after
spending 3 years in UKYP and 4 years on the Derbyshire Youth Council, I believe that I
have the experience to do this.
What’s been the biggest challenge you have overcome as a young person?
For me the biggest challenge I have overcome as a young person is confidence.
Throughout primary school, I was somewhat quiet and reserved; however from joining
the Derbyshire Youth Council in 2010, my confidence has increased dramatically. I’ve
found that the knowledge I gained from my first year on the Derbyshire Youth Council
has meant that I can continue to increase my confidence, and over the past 2 years I
have had no trouble with taking assemblies in school, leading conferences, presenting
to town councils, lobbying MPs, meeting with government ministers on the National
Scrutiny Group and leading on the topic of GCSE reforms in a meeting with the Rt Hon
Michael Gove MP earlier this year. Despite finding some aspects of increasing my
confidence difficult, especially when just starting on the Derbyshire Youth Council,
looking back I’m pleased I made that first step to join them in 2010.
Ateeya Patel, Leicester City
Why are you passionate about the work that you do as an MYP?
I am passionate about the work I do as an MYP as it has firstly given me and other
young people an opportunity to express and share views and opinions. I am passionate
about my work as MYP as I strongly believe that the voices of young people are just as
important as older people. I believe my role as an MYP is to involve and represent
young people to the best of my ability and I love knowing that being MYP means helping
young people. Finally I am truly proud to be a MYP
What will you get out of being a debate lead at the House of Commons?
If I was lucky enough to be debate lead I would gain more confidence and improve my
speaking skills I think this one huge opportunity which will have a positive impact on my
future. I would feel that I have made a difference by expressing my views and opinion
out in the open. I am passionate and strong individual this debate lead would help me
prove this when i have my say. This will also make my friends Family and the young
people of Leicester city proud. Also I want to take politics at A levels and English so I
feel this would benefit me I then would gain leadership and positive speaking and
listening skills.
What’s been the biggest challenge you have overcome as a young person?
As a young person the biggest challenge I have overcome is bullying and peer
pressure. Being bullied made me lose all confidence. Having to have peer group
pressure on top of this has been hard as this had affected me as a person.
I have overcome this in the last two years by being able to speak up and having the
help from my family and friends also by understanding that we are all different and no
one can make you feel that you have to be a certain way to fit in, my experience and
time as an MYP has certainly helped me regain confidence.
Shakeel Hajat, Derbyshire
Why are you passionate about the work that you do as an MYP?
I’m afraid I’m going to have to go with the very cliché answer, which is that I am
passionate about representing young people, and I know everybody says that and
everyone seems to mean it, but form me, I feel that a crucial part of our democracy is
the representation of the whole population, and pre-UKYP and before I knew about the
work of the UKYP, I felt that that people were being neglected in the fact that they didn’t
have a voice. Now I know they do, I’m proud to be a part of it, and I want to know I did
everything I could for my generation of young people, which is the ideology that fuels
my passion working as an MYP
What will you get out of being a debate lead at the House of Commons?
Being elected to be the Debate lead and being given the opportunity to speak in the
House of commons seems like the cornerstone achievement working as an MYP. To
me it is an opportunity. An opportunity to talk about issues I care deeply about, an
opportunity to express myself in the most prestigious house in the country but also I
want to be able to deliver a speech worthy of merit. A speech that hopefully Mps will
watch and pay heed to not only the contents of the speech but the organisation in which
the deliverer of the speech belongs to, furthering the cause of the UKYP, thus giving
more power to young people. A speech that will hopefully, help prompt applause from
MPs rather than sniggers, when Jon Bercow mentions the event a week after.
What’s been the biggest challenge you have overcome as a young person?
Probably getting over the mentality I and others have, telling us that we can’t really do it.
Starting with school councils and my local Youth Council, this mentality kept propping
up- “Do I really need to do this?”. Through organising events like a big public sleepout
for the homeless in my community, you get these doubts. It’s natural to get these
doubts, with the pressure of school and family life to think about as well. People say it’s
not really possible and suggest you do something easier but eventually the whole
process of being an MYP taught me to never settle for less. The words of Pam Warhurst
really resonated with me, because before I had the mentality that things can’t be done,
yet once I got over that everything was possible, which is the mindset you need to be an
effective MYP.
Uzair Hashmi, Nottingham
Why are you passionate about the work that you do as an MYP?
The passion for my work as an MYP comes from my previous experience of not being
fully represented. For a long time I witnessed strong under-representation for myself
and hundreds of young people in Nottingham. It is this negative experience, which feeds
my thirst to change this lack of a youth voice for young people, especially those who are
labelled as ‘hard to reach’. I participate in giving young people a voice not for selfbenefit, but because I see the difference it makes. I get satisfaction from seeing a
difference being made. Any barriers that I face when representing young people, only
further feeds my passion to continue my work as an MYP.
What will you get out of being a debate lead at the House of Commons?
Being a debate lead will not only allow me to develop my public speaking skills, but it
will be symbol of proof to my constituents that I am able to fight for their issues and be
listened to at a high authoritative level. Speaking at a debate lead level would give
myself, and any young person the feeling of success – a feeling of success that can
then be transferred to the hundreds of young people that I represent. As a debate lead, I
want to be involved in shaping the structure of the debate. I also want to give feedback
to other young people after the debate to empower them to also stand for debate lead
the following year.
What’s been the biggest challenge you have overcome as a young person?
My biggest challenge that I have overcome as a young person has been getting back on
my feet and discovering myself after hitting rock bottom. There was a recent point in my
life where I felt as if I had sunk to an all time low, and where everything around me was
slowly dissolving. For a short time, I had a low sense of self-worth. I was making
seriously uninformed and unguided decisions about my future. It is during this period
that I slowly began to discover who I am as a young person, and what I am capable of,
as well as my skills and qualities. Overcoming this huge barrier in my life was difficult
but extremely eye-opening. I feel that there are more young people out there like
myself, and I want to be able to show them that even the hardest of challenges can be
overcome.