Ceredigion’s winning candidate for the Welsh Youth Parliament has been announced as Llandysul student Caleb Rees.

Caleb, who attends Ysgol Bro Teifi, will be one of 60 members of the new Youth Parliament with 40 constituency candidates and representatives of 20 partner organisations also elected to the body which aims to give children and young people the chance to make their views heard by working alongside the National Assembly.

Ten youngsters, aged between 11 and 18 years, from across Ceredigion were among the 480 candidates that stood for the constituency seats in Wales with Caleb winning the most votes in an online election open to youngsters who had registered to vote.

Welsh-speaker Caleb had vowed to campaign for Welsh independence, free women’s hygiene products and a second referendum on Brexit and said it was important for youngsters to be involved in politics and ensure they have a voice.

He said: “I want to be a member of the Youth Parliament because politics is such an important part of society. I feel that this needs to be promoted amongst the young people of Wales, especially in rural areas.

“Our voice is just as important as everyone else’s, and although we cannot vote, I hope that this will change in the near future.”

See this week’s South Ceredigion paper for the full story, available in shops and as a digital edition now