BY HANNAH GRAHAM

February sees the beginning of another UK Youth Parliament election, where young people all over Dorset vote for the candidate they believe to have the best manifesto.

I interviewed one of the candidates for this year, who is also a member of the Dorset Youth Council, Sophie Trott.

Sophie’s manifesto is themed around a curriculum for life, which will provide young people with the “transferable life skills they need for life after education.” Sophie told me that she believes that this is “crucial” because these skills are “absolutely essential for thriving in life posteducation.”

One of Sophie’s most striking points was that her manifesto is “very much an investment for all of our futures.”

Sophie believes she possesses many of the skills needed to be an MYP, such as “the ability to effectively communicate with many different people, the confidence to put across my opinions, organisation and a lot of dedication.”

She said that her two main priorities would be to represent the views of her constituents and to achieve her manifesto in the most effective way possible.

Sophie aims to create a resource with the necessary help and guidance needed for a young person to write a CV and thrive in interview environments.

Finally, I asked Sophie perhaps the most important question, how she intends to involve young people in her campaigns, should she be elected.

Sophie told me she intends to get their views and opinions in a variety of ways, including via social media and by going into schools and holding surgery meetings.

This is just one of the amazing candidates running for the UKYP. The vote will be taking place within local schools between January 30 and February 3.