Doug Naysmith, MP for Bristol North West and Sam Townend, prospective Labour Candidate, took two young constituents to10 Downing Street to meet Gordon Brown at a reception celebrating the achievements of young people.

First, Shalayne Bartlett, (18) and Jenny Mullinder, (16) went to the House of Commons to watch Prime Minister’s Question Time.  Shalayne said, “It was very interesting but quite hard to sit there and not join in!”  After lunch, a brief tour and interviews with the press and BBC, the party went along to Downing Street. 

Shalayne, who lives in Brentry, was chosen because of the work she does with Southmead’s successful girls’ footballs teams.  When younger, she played for the teams and is now training to be a coach and youth worker.  Jenny, from Lawrence Weston, has been elected to represent Bristol at the UK Youth Parliament three times.  She is particularly interested in Transport for young people and combating bullying.  Until the visit she had not quite made up her mind whether she wanted to be a politician or an actress but once she was in Number 10 she told the Prime Minister, “I want your job”.  Shalayne got the chance to talk to Mr Brown about football and was impressed with his knowledge.

Sam Townend said, “It was a most enjoyable day.  We were very pleased to be able to introduce the young women to the Prime Minister. All the young people there had done something valuable for their communities – whether in the field of sport, politics or the arts.”