19 year-old councillor, Cylcia Manwa, tells King Charles about the importance of youth engagement in Politics

Meeting Cylcia Manwa made me realise how important it is for young people to get involved in politics at all levels. In a conversation that meandered from addressing the challenges of being a young person in politics and the state of the Labour party, Cylcia reflects on her role as elected councillor of Tilbury Riverside and Thurrock Park Ward – an area just east of London, and her passion for  youth political engagement which she has brought up with King Charles. 

“The practical art of politics” is something that can only be “learned on the job” , Cylcia told me. Just a few days after our conversation, she was invited to Buckingham Palace, in the capacity of being a local councillor, “for a reception on the celebration of Kenyan Independence”.  In a conversation with King Charles,  she emphasised the importance of youth engagement– a sentiment the King, himself, agreed with in what Cylcia described as a “very surreal experience” . 

“If people didn’t think I could do it, they wouldn’t have elected me”.

As one of the few young people involved in council politics in her role– where the “average age of a councillor is around sixty”, Cylcia tells me that she believes that “she can offer a unique and valuable insight into issues” that are central to her role as Labour councillor. Central responsibilities of the local councillor role include “helping local people and sitting on committees about foster children … and unaccompanied children seeking asylum”– issues that Cyclia feels a young person can best address. “If people didn’t think I could do it, they wouldn’t have elected me”, she said. 

However, Cylcia confessed that she feels that her ability to do her role of local councillor has been questioned by older people within the council and from local constituents.  

One of Cylcia’s top priorities, at a local level, is to push for a youth zone to be built in Tilbury utilising recent levelling-up funds that have been provided to the area, But her proposal is facing pushback–  “unsurprisingly from adults who do not think a youth zone is necessary, and do not want it in their back garden”.

This is troubling, especially when youth political engagement is at an all-time low, with only 54% of young people between 18-24 turning out to vote in the 2019 General Election– the lowest of any age group.  The British Youth Council found in 2023 that 71% of young people don’t feel that political parties speak directly to young people– who have been characterised by research from Oxford University as a “doubly disadvantaged group”– in the lead-up to elections.

Restoring Trust and Youth-centric Funding in Local Democracy

The Labour Party is “the only political party that has the vehicle to push the agenda of young people forward”, Cylcia argued. She believes a unifying force among young Labour supporters is hope for progression– telling me that it’s important that“young people fight that corner”. It’s a cause close to Cylcia, who has previously interned at Enact Equality– an all-party parliamentary group that works to advance racial injustice and equality across the UK.

She has a clear ideological commitment and a sense that political representation is first and foremost a public service– “trust” was a central commitment of her election campaign. Cylcia described how was involved in local left-wing politics from a young age– the journey to councillor “all happened quite quickly and organically” but one that she “threw [herself] into” with support from other Labour councillors. Shortly after being elected to the councillor role, Cylcia shared a statement with local residents in the ward–  where she said it is “an honour and duty” to serve her community and a “role that I do not take lightly”. “Whoever you voted for in this election, I hope to be a voice for all residents, and offer help and support as and when necessary.”

“Labour has always had a focus on strong public services” and offers “something different to thirteen years of austerity”, Cylcia suggested. She referenced SureStart, an initiative kick-started by HM Treasury in 1998 which Tony Blair described as “one of New Labour’s greatest achievements”. However, over 1000 centres were closed from 2010 to 2018 according to the Guardian and reports from The Mirror of cuts of 85% of centres in local areas. She argued that erosion to local services has happened under the Tory watch and Labour can redress the situation by restoring movements like SureStart, to offer much needed investment into communities that can support young people

Speaking to BBC Essex ahead of the local elections, she told local journalists that the only way to improve youth political engagement, especially in council elections, was to show how local governments could affect residents. In the same interview, she suggests extreme climate activism from Just Stop Oil, who have recently spray-painted several university campuses in the UK orange, has “at a point where it’s becoming more difficult for people to support them due to just how extreme their efforts are”. 

“But is Labour offering enough?”, I ask. “Or is its only selling point to young people that it isn’t the same tired and shambolic Conservative government that has been in power for most of our lives?”

Cylcia hopes that the party does “not forget the values of the movement” and the foundational progressive ideology of Labour politics. But, for now, she has faith in the Labour Party as it is, and that it is important to “tread the centre ground” and walk “a fine line” to win the next General Election.

From a Politician to a Politics Student

Cylcia is just embarking on her Politics and International Relations degree at LSE– which has offered a “bird’s eye” perspective that has helped her “approach different challenges in politics”. This is especially reassuring for me, as a Politics student. Running her election campaign, Cylcia told me that it was evident to see how issues that she has studied in her course clearly “affect the way people vote”, even on a local level. 

While being a young person so actively involved in politics– in an academic and practical sense– has its clear benefits, Cylcia concludes that balancing being a university student and being a local councillor is “definitely not easy”.

Images shared, with permission, from Cylcia Manwa. Interview conducted and written by Finley Brighton. Article edited, and expanded, by Suchir Salhan.