Your Member of Youth Parliament
2024-26
Chris Johnson
Hello, I'm Chris and I'm currently your Member of Youth Parliament for Cheltenham and Tewkesbury.
Why did I run to be your Member of Youth Parliament? I ran in order to better represent your interests within Cheltenham and Tewkesbury, where youth are often underrepresented and ignored. I would also like to improve political education and detoxify politics, to make it so that children can grow up dreaming of being in politics, which is impossible due to how toxic and almost reprehensible politics is seen. However, there is no point running if we cannot improve things, which is why I would also like to improve the situation with many issues that affect us – most notably public transport.
How do I represent young people in Cheltenham and Tewkesbury? First and foremost, I like to use surveys. There is no better way to hear and see your views than directly asking you – the people who need to have this choice and chance to represent yourself. I also try to talk to young people all across the constituency, either through formal events such as talking and taking questions in youth groups or schools, or less formally through school, work, email, or social media, where I can be easily contacted at cheltenhamandtewkesburymyp@gmail.com or @CFDSJohnson2007 on Twitter/X and will get back within a few days at most. The Make Your Mark Campaign also gave a direct voice to young people up and down the country and across the South West, and I promise to take this into account.
What do I think are some of the main issues for youth? I believe one of the core issues affecting young people in this area is public transport, especially at some grammar schools where people travel from further out, where costs and lack of easy access to routes can often be a big problem, and a hinderance to poorer families. Based on survey data, most respondents want public transport to be free and have issues with costs and routes. You can tell me your thoughts using Your Voice Matters, contacting me using the details at the bottom of the page, or by filling in one of my surveys.
Your Voice Matters
Your Voice Matters is a direct democracy exercise where you can directly send me your views.
Send me your thoughts, questions, and ideas for what can be done to help the youth of Cheltenham and Tewkesbury.
Go to the form here:
Or use the QR code below:
Surveys
My Vision
Transport that works for everybody
Public transport in Cheltenham and Tewkesbury, and all across the country is currently in dire straits, especially trains which are "extremely inconsistent... cancelled at least once a week, and even when I book a seat, I am sometimes not able to sit there" according to one constituent. Lack of good public transport damages the environment by leading to increased car use, financial strain due to the high costs of the current system, which can be as high as 5% of annual income, and a lack of accessibility for disabled youths.
How to fix this
Reducing Costs - Making public transport free for those under 21 give people the support they need to use it, and encourage its use from an early stage.
Expanding Routes - Simply put, there are not enough routes at the moment. 15-minute journeys by car taking 3 hours by public transport are not unheard of, and to encourage use for most journeys, it needs to get people pretty much anywhere.
Increasing Reliability - There are no repercussions for unreliable service, due to the lack of alternative transport for many, which only hurts the citizen. Government should encourage and assist with reliable services and eventually make unreliable service unthinkable.
My Focus Areas
Getting Young People into Politics
Visiting schools and youth groups, and promoting Youth Parliament
Increasing Accessibility
Everyone's voice is needed to create truly representative policy
Votes at 16
Ensuring everyone has a say - a true democracy must include as many people as possible
You
Your voice should be heard through surveys
Talking with local representatives
Telling MPs and Councillors what truly matters to us