Fulham Cross Student Hiba is H&F's New Youth Mayor

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After record turnout of over 10,000 11-18 year-olds cast their votes

Hiba Al Moosawi, 14 a student at Fulham Cross Girls' School who lives in Hammersmith has been elected Youth Mayor of Hammersmith and Fulham.

Young people across H&F this month elected their new Youth Mayor and Member of Youth Parliament, who are eager to help shape the decisions which affect their lives.

It was the highest turnout ever of 11 to 18-year-olds with more than 10,000 casting their votes.

Hiba will take up the role of Youth Mayor in April after winning 1,895 of the votes.

On election day, she said she was looking forward to the challenge. Among other things, she wants to focus on helping young people get the work experience they need to enjoy successful careers.

"I feel really privileged to have the opportunity," she said.

"I think it’s really important to have a role for young people to represent other young people.

"It enables older people to get a better understanding of what we think, how we see our community and how we want to make it better."

She is the second to be elected Youth Mayor after the role was created last year. It gives young people a formal role at the heart of the council, enabling them to properly scrutinise and improve the services they receive.

Cas Bradbeer, 15, of Shepherd's Bush and who attends Latymer Upper School was elected Deputy Youth Mayor with 1,609 votes.

Hiba and Adam

H&F’s new Member of Youth Parliament is Adam Elbounabi, of Hammersmith, who won 1,842 votes. He and his deputy will represent the voice of the borough’s young residents at the UK Youth Parliament and lead local campaigns.

"I wanted to get involved with the politics and decision making for young people," he said. "It’s a brilliant opportunity to make our voices heard and a real honour to represent the borough."

The 17year-old, who attends Burlington Danes Academy also wants to help H&F’s young people get more work experience. Nationally he says he’d like to focus on tackling discrimination.  

Sarina Mohammed, 16, of White City, who goes to Phoenix High School was elected Deputy Member of Youth Parliament with 1,581 votes. 

"Congratulations to Hiba, Cas, Adam and Sarina who have worked hard to win the votes of their peers," said Cllr Fennimore, H&F Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion.

"I’m hugely impressed with their enthusiasm and ideas and we all really look forward to working with them."          

All young people aged 11 to 18 who attend the borough’s schools where able to cast their vote for both elections during the past two weeks.

You can see many more pictures from the day on H&F Council's Flickr gallery.

You can find out more about Hammersmith and Fulham's Youth Council on H&F Council's page on Youth involvement projects.

March 27, 2016