They’re all under 30 and determined to make a difference – here, five of the youngest candidates tell the BBC why they’re standing in next month’s general election.
Last Thursday, Pedro Da Conceicao sat his final A-Level exam – but instead of celebrating with friends he was straight back out on the campaign trail.
At 18 years old, Pedro – who is running as an independent in west London – is thought to be the youngest candidate standing in this year’s election.
He’d wondered about politics as a potential future career – but it was only when the general election was called at the end of May that he decided he would run to be an MP.
“My mum thought I was joking when I first told her,” he says.
Born in Portugal, Pedro moved to the UK with his mother when he was baby, and says it was the underrepresentation of young people in Parliament which motivated him to stand.
He cites his mother, an NHS nurse, as an influence on his politics.
“I saw my mum come to the UK as an immigrant and work really, really hard,” he says. “I saw first hand the benefit of immigrants and how they could help our economy.”
Image source, Pedro Da Conceicao
Pedro also wants to see more investment in public services and efforts to tackle knife crime.
He’s seen some of his peers turn to drugs and gangs to make money to support their families. But, he says, many politicians are out of touch with his reality.
“How can you expect people that have been privately educated or are way older to solve an issue that they can’t relate to?”
Running as an independent, without financial backing or a team behind him, has been a challenge.
He covered the £500 deposit to stand – which is returned if a candidate gets 5% of votes cast – through a crowdfunder, as well as using earnings from his part-time restaurant job.
He acknowledges winning Ealing Southall, a safe Labour seat, is a longshot.
“But hopefully I can inspire more young people to get involved in politics.”
The average age of MPs has remained around 50 for the past 45 years.
Political journalist Michael Crick says while “there’s always been young candidates”, it’s possible more could be elected this time.
He points to a number of Labour candidates in their 30s who are running in seats which are potentially winnable. And if current polls are accurate, he says there could be a big turnover of MPs – with lots of new Labour faces.
That, combined with the large number of experienced MPs standing down, could mean a drop in the average age of the new Parliament.
Image source, Nathan Roach
Labour candidate Martha O’Neil is hoping to be one of those fresh faces. The 26-year-old is standing in a new Welsh seat.
Martha grew up in Ammanford, a former mining town, and was raised by her mum after her dad died when she was 10.
It was her family’s reliance on state support that inspired her to get into politics.
Using her education maintenance grant to buy the books she needed to prepare for university, Martha won a scholarship to Cambridge and went on to work as a civil servant.
She believes young people have a unique perspective they can bring to politics, and that’s what she hopes to do in Caerfyrddin.
“Making sure that we platform young voices is critical to make sure that we have a democracy that truly represents the UK as a whole.”
Image source, Conservative Party
Luke Allan Holmes – who is standing for the Conservatives – agrees.
The 21-year-old says while most voters are “pleasantly surprised” to see someone his age standing for Parliament, some on social media have questioned whether he has the life experience to be an MP.
“I didn’t go to university,” says Luke, whose previous jobs include staffing the checkouts at his local branch of Tesco and working for HMRC. “People need to realise that actually some young people have gone through a lot in life and have a lot to offer.”
Growing up in County Durham, Luke says he felt the area was “taken for granted” by Labour politicians.
The secondary school he went to was rated inadequate and poor public transport meant he had to move closer to Durham to go to college.
“I saw those challenges firsthand,” he says, “and that’s what drove me to want to do something about it.”
It was the 2019 general election which really sparked his interest in politics, when the Conservatives won a string of former Labour strongholds in the north of England, including nearby Bishop Auckland.
Even so, Luke admits he had reservations about standing to be an MP in the City of Durham. Since becoming a councillor in 2021, he…