You are not currently logged in.
Thursday, May 24 2012

Teen Alex Ellis-Roswell's bid to be UK's youngest councillor

A 16-year-old boy is attempting to become the country's youngest local councillor.

Alex Ellis-Roswell plans to stand for the North Nailbourne seat in local elections in Canterbury in 2011. He has promised to ensure he is paid the minimum wage if successfully elected.

Alex - who will be 18 years and six weeks old when the elections take place - will be representing the little-known Libertarian Party. He recently quit the UK Independence Party over its proposal to ban women from wearing the burkha.

Alex, who lives with his parents in Riverside Close, Bridge, plans to challenge local Tory councillor John Anderson for his seat.

Audio: Alex Ellis-Roswell argues why he should be taken seriously and why he wants to be on the minimum wage

He said: "Canterbury needs redevelopment, to encourage tourism and to help local residents. Canterbury's got one of the highest populations of students in the country, and we definitely need a vision towards that.

"The Libertarians is a brand new party, they've only been around for two years. Conservatives, Labour, Lib Dem - they're all promising change but they're not promising a change in direction.

"That's what the Libertarian Party can offer. In the near future they will be a strong voice for all Liberals in this country."

On his decision to leave UKIP, Alex added: "No government should ever tell anyone, whoever they are, what they should wear or can't wear. It's absolutely wrong."

Wednesday, February 03 2010

The KM Group does not moderate comments.
Please click here for our house rules.

Comments (4)

Comments closed

  • Without a burqua - and proud of it wrote:

    Move over, Gilroy...

    Only 16, still living with Mum and Dad, not even elected and ALREADY talking about the salary! Local councillors should be paid expenses only. Peter Gilroy (see elsewhere in today's news) must be proud of him.

    03 Feb 2010 6:06 PM

    Report Abuse

  • Rob Taylor wrote:

    Nimbys?

    So this young chap wants to stand for local council. The 2 posts above seem to be up in arms about someone who is young attaining a job. Surely it is this attitude that has got this country in the mess it currently is in.

    Fact is, Canterbury has a large young population, however there is a small few who refuse to listen or acknoledge their existance.

    Without the Uni's in the city, what state would it's economy be in?

    He is wanting a job, he has stated that he will work for minimum wage, how is that "sinking his snout in the trough"? So pay for him to do a job that should serve the community, or pay him job seekers? Why does the council have to be full of old fuddy-duddies and cronies?

    Good on you Alex, although I would suggest a hair cut, and maybe getting a little sun on your skin.

    03 Feb 2010 3:37 PM

    Report Abuse

  • a grown-up voter wrote:

    greedy child

    what a greedy child Alex is. At 16 he already wants to sink his snout into the trough. Nothing about wanting to serve, all about wanting to take. For his enlightenment, many people in Canterbury are not students and would dread having a "representative" who is only interested in the youngest quarter of the population. Grow up, Alex - then see if you have something to offer

    03 Feb 2010 12:50 PM

    Report Abuse

  • a voter wrote:

    he needs to grow up - totally naive

    whilst i am sure his heart is in the right place, he is demonstrating a total lack of life experience and understanding.

    of course he is happy to live on minimum wage, he lives with his parents! go out, get your own place and then try it, with no government hand outs!

    as for women wearing the burkha - i don't have a problem with that so agree with him though on the condition they remove them when required for security purposes - such as id cards and when entering areas where security checks are in place. this is a whole other debate, but anyone wishing to live here should be willing to do so by our rules and customs, afer all, it is OUR country, the recent case where a student refused to remove her burkha for a university id card highlighted this problem, and her total lack of respect and willingness to honour the rules of an instittution that she herself chose to attend - too many liberals say it is her religion and up to her, but if we go to many foreign countries we have to follow their strict customs, so it is only right that they should do the same when coming here. if this is an issue for women like here then simple - if you don'y like it, leave. unfortunately we are living under a constant high terror threat, and the only way to try to prevent any further tragedies is to be as vigilant as possible when it comes to security.

    going back to this young man, i find it hard to see ho he would be able to emphasise with the plight of the majority of his constituents, having so little life experience.

    03 Feb 2010 10:30 AM

    Report Abuse

Terms of Comments
We do not actively moderate, monitor or edit contributions to the reader comments but we may intervene and take such action as we think necessary, please click here for our house rules.. If you have any concerns over the contents on our site, please either register those concerns using the report abuse button, contact us here, email multimediadesk@thekmgroup.co.uk or call 01634 227834.

Advertisement

Copyright: You may not copy, reproduce, republish, download, post, broadcast, transmit or otherwise use content on this site in any way except for your own personal, non-commercial use. You also agree not to adapt, alter or create a derivative work from any content on this site except for your own personal, non-commercial use. Any other use of content requires the prior written permission of the KM GROUP. Read full terms and conditions.