Kent Youth County Council (KYCC) elections

The countdown to this year’s KYCC elections has begun and now it is time to sign up and get involved!

KYCC is open to all young people aged 11 to 18 years. Sixty young people from across the county will be elected to represent the views and issues of young people in Kent and campaign on the top 3 issues for young people. No experience is required and we provide lots of support and training, so if you have something you want to say or do to improve the lives of young people in Kent, sign up now!

This year’s elections will take place from 14 to 27 November. The deadline to register as a candidate is midday on Tuesday 18 October.

Register as a candidate

You have 2 options to register as a candidate:

District members

The election for these seats take place in schools, youth organisations and online. Four young people will be elected as KYCC Members and 4 as KYCC Deputy Members from each district in Kent.

Community members

These elections are held online and within groups and organisations specific to the community seat. The community seat elections ensure KYCC is representative of all communities in Kent, when registering you will be able to select the community you belong to and would like to represent. One Member and one Deputy Member is elected to represent each community seat.

Community seats include:

Black Minority Ethnic young people
LGBT+ young people
Disabled young people
Gypsy / Roma and traveller young people
International students
Young carers
Home educated young people
Young people in care
Young people not in education, training or employment
Young refugees.

If you belong to a community which is not represented in this list, please do apply and include details of the minority community you would like to represent.

The person with the highest number of votes will be elected as a member and will be offered a 2 year term on KYCC. The person with the second highest number of votes will be offered a deputy member role and will be offered a 1 year term on KYCC. Once elected community members have the same status and opportunities as district members.

Register as a polling station

If you're a school or youth organisation, we need your help to:

run the elections this year
encourage young people to sign up as candidates for the elections
hold the elections in your school or youth setting.

Elections can be held online or by paper ballot (which we will deliver).

A range of resources including Powerpoint slides to be used in assemblies and promotional posters and leaflets will be sent to you in September. Please ensure to share these with the young people you work with.

We can also support in delivering school assemblies. If you would like a member of our team to come along to your school or youth organisation please email kycc@kent.gov.uk.