GWENT’S youngest councillor has had a busy 12 months, as she reaches the end of her first year in office.

The people of the Monmouthshire ward of The Elms elected the then 18- year-old Labour candidate Jessica Crook, of Undy, to represent them at the county council, last year.

The second year politics student from Swansea University joined a small group of young adults who have been elected to serve constituents in Gwent councils.

Cllr Crook, who has also lost just over four stones in her first year in office after hitting the gymfive times a week, said she got involved in politics when she was an A-level student at Wyedean School, and previously worked as an intern in the office of Jessica Morden.

Cllr Crook, now 19, wanted to bring a more youthful aspect to the council when she was first elected.

“I am in university five days a week and have to juggle my council work alongside that.

“If my first lecture is at 10am I set my alarm at 7.15am and do my e-mails in the morning.

“I get 30 to 40 emails a day so I have to check them in the morning before I go to university.

“I also do some council work in the morning and then do some more council work in the afternoon and the evening.

“So I end up checking my emails three to four times a day just to keep on top of it.

“We have a lot of emails about arranging meetings and emails from constituents themselves who are contacting me about a problem they have.

“As well as this, I am on external committees, such as the Magor train station committee, and the Undy AFC committee, as I am a big football fan.

“My other work extends to being a community councillor on the Magor with Undy Community Council, acting as a governor for Undy Primary School and I also hold surgeries.”

Cllr Crook travels back and forth from university in Swansea to her ward twice a week to attend meetings.

“I try to arrange my meetings within 24 hours of each other so that I can drive down and do three meetings at the same time,” she said.

“I also write and deliver my own leaflets to my wards and over the year I have done four leaflet drops.

“This is my way of engaging the community and hearing about the issues they have.

“Alongside this I hold surgeries to deal with people’s individual problems.

“Constituents contact me about problems such as a specific issue with their garden or road.

“Recently we have had a lot of complaints about the waste proposals.

“It is a very frustrating situation I am in, because I am not in the leading party so there is not a lot I can do.”

But Cllr Crook remains positive.

“It is really rewarding when you are able to help constituents with their problems,” she said.

“Recently I was able to provide equipment for the Undy Football Club, as there were no facility developments in Undy at all and I was angry about that.

“It is something I really wanted to change as Undy FC is the only community project in my ward, so we have had some new equipment installed.

“I have also installed a roundabout in the local play area and my little brother and sister were really pleased.”

Cllr Crook believes that the rest of her year in office will be easier as she breaks up from university for the summer.

“I am going to be in Undy without having any uni commitments so I can get my teeth into it even more.

“Overall I would say that this year has been really rewarding and really frustrating at the same time, but definitely one of the best things is being able to get young people interested in politics and what I do.”

Any constituents who want to contact Cllr Crook can e-mail her at JessicaCrook@monmouthshire.gov.uk