I AM absolutely delighted that 15 young people from Torfaen have put their names forward for this month’s elections to the first ever Welsh Youth Parliament.

The Youth Parliament is an exciting idea that will give young people in Wales a completely new way to make themselves heard at a national level.

The members of the Parliament will be able to talk about the things and issues that matter to them.

A total of 40 seats are up for grabs with 480 young people standing as candidates - including 15 from Torfaen. I am really proud that Torfaen has one of the biggest line up of candidates in Wales.

Maybe we have some future members of the National Assembly for Wales in the making!

I hope you will take some time to look at the young people from Torfaen who have put their names forward for election and the issues they are concerned about.

You can check out the election hopefuls at youthparliament.wales

Once elected Welsh Youth Parliament Members will serve a two-year term.

In total there will be 60 members of the Youth Parliament. Some 40 will be elected by young people and another 20 young people will be selected to join the Parliament by partner organisations including Carers Trust, Race Council Cymru, Barnardo’s Cymru, Girlguiding Cymru and Learning Disability Wales.

Putting the Parliament together in this way will make sure we have a broad representation from diverse groups of young people.

To be able to vote in the elections young people have to be aged between 11 and 18 and registered to vote.

Registration is online and takes about five minutes - but don’t hang around, the final phase of registration closes at midday tomorrow, Friday, November 16.

Once people have registered to vote, they will receive an email with a unique vote code and instructions on how to use their vote.

Voting is open until Sunday, November 25.

The Youth Parliament is a key commitment of the National Assembly for Wales to give children and young people a voice at a national level. It was voted for by all political parties in 2016.

I wish everyone who is standing for election the best of luck. This is the beginning of a very exciting new journey both for democracy and the young people of Wales and Torfaen.

Find out more and encourage young people to register to vote at youthparliament.wales