Henry Scott is an independent candidate standing for the Leyton and Wanstead constituency at this month’s General Election. Here’s why he thinks he deserves your vote on 12 December
I am the UK’s youngest candidate taking part in this General Election and I have decided to stand as an independent candidate for Leyton and Wanstead.
I turned 18 in November, having grown up in Leytonstone with my older brother and younger sister. My parents, Peter and Victoria, are both musicians. Victoria currently teaches music at Riverley School in Leyton, while Peter is the organist at St John’s Church and runs a business in London. My education began at the Kids-R-Us nursery at the Welsh Church and I now attend David Game College in London.
“How on earth did you come to the decision to stand as a candidate?” I hear you ask. Well, I remember being in my politics lesson and my teacher saying: “Henry, now that you’re 18, are you looking forward to voting in your first election?” I replied that I wasn’t sure I wanted to vote for any of the current main parties. As I went home, I realised I wanted a candidate who would represent the views and wishes of myself and other people like me, not the wishes of the main party and their leadership. I thought, if I’m old enough to vote, am I also old enough to stand as a candidate? And it turned out that I was.
Although I now live in Loughton, I was raised in Leytonstone and I really love the area and am still involved there. As a kid, I went on many adventures and bike rides on Wanstead Flats and in Wanstead Park – it’s a favourite dog-walking spot of mine and I really enjoy the tea hut. I love the High Street in Leytonstone because it’s always busy and bustling with very friendly shopkeepers; and I have many friends through St John’s Church. I would now like to give something back to the people who made my upbringing possible and who brought me to where I am today.
Politically, I have four main concerns I would like to address:
- I think Barts Trust have been treating our Whipps Cross Hospital very badly and I want to campaign tirelessly for better funding and to take Whipps into its own trust.
- I want to stop Brexit.
- I want to prevent a climate catastrophe.
- I want to get more funding for music, drama and the arts in our Leyton and Wanstead schools.
In doing all this, I hope to be a voice for youth in Parliament and I will, of course, do my very best for any other concerns my Leyton and Wanstead constituents might have.
