Georgina named new young mayor of Carlisle
Last updated 12:31, Tuesday, 14 October 2008
A Carlisle 10-year-old saw off stiff competition to win the post of Young Mayor of the city.
- Video: watch the mayor making
Georgina Powley, of Walkmill Crescent, Kingfisher Park, triumphed in a heated debate at the Civic Centre. Voted in by children from four Carlisle primary schools, she will spend the next fortnight shadowing the mayor Jacquelyne Geddes on official visits.
A pupil at Brook Street Primary School, she won the popular vote with a manifesto based on recycling and green issues.
She said: “I think someone that’s responsible and confident can help Carlisle and make it a better place.”
Her policies included more recycling bins around the city streets and a new sports centre to train kids for the 2012 Olympics.
She faced up to tough questions from the voters, many involving the knotty issue of funding.
She added: “Some of my ideas came with help from the school and some of them I thought of myself.
“The hardest part was when I was answering the questions because some of them were really tricky.”
Her opponents Carly Donaldson, from Inglewood Junior School, Charlotte Hattrell, from Hayton Primary School and Alex Lexa, from Stanwix Primary School were all awarded runner-up certificates.
Last year’s Young Mayor, Jessica Whyte, 11, from Botcherby, was on hand to present Georgina with the winner’s sash.
Her mum Kerry Powley, 36, said: “I’m really pleased. It was all her own work – she thought really hard about what she was going to say.”
Now in its eighth year, the annual Young Mayor event is held to mark Local Democracy Week, running this year from October 13 to 19. This national campaign is designed to encourage young people to get involved in local politics.
Jacquelyne Geddes, said: “This is a special event as the young people taking part have taken the time to think about what it is like to live in their communities.
“They have looked around and found out what is important to them, their classmates and families.”
After the mayor’s opening address, each candidate gave a speech explaining why they would like to be Young Mayor of Carlisle.
This was followed by question and answer sessions and a vote complete with voting slips, a polling booth and ballot boxes.
