Caerphilly County Borough’s young people have decided who will represent them on the local authority for the next two years.
Labour’s New Tredegar councillor, Mark Evans, has been elected as the council’s youth champion after a long-running campaign with Cllr Donna Cushing, who represents Gelligaer for Plaid Cymru.
The council’s youth forum visited schools and youth services to offer people aged between 11 and 25 the opportunity to vote, before voting culminated in a special event where they could grill the candidates.
More than 1,200 votes were cast, with Cllr Evans receiving 845.
He said: “I am delighted to have won the vote to represent the young people of this county. I would like to extend my thanks to all of the people who voted for me.
“The Youth Champion is such an important role as it helps to ensure that the voices of young people who live in Caerphilly County Borough are listened to when important decisions which may affect their lives in the future are made.”
Cabinet Member for Education and Achievement, Cllr Philippa Marsden, said: “I would like to extend my congratulations to Mark on becoming the Youth Champion and express my thanks to Donna for being such a worthy opponent.
“I am so pleased that so many young people took part in the voting process. It is important that we play our part in educating young people about the democratic process and this election has achieved just that.”