Hertfordshire members of the youth parliament attended its national annual sitting at the University of Exeter last week.

Members representing Three Rivers, Hertsmere and Dacorum were among the county group who took part in the three day residential conference and voted on issues for inclusion in the national UK Youth Parliament manifesto.

Those attending included Nick Gardner, 16, Dacorum MYP, Vivek Shah, 13, Three Rivers MYP and Sahil Ali, 16, Hertsmere MYP.

Rt Hon John Bercow MP, speaker of the House of Commons, opened the event and welcomed over 250 MYPs from all over the country.

Participants attending workshops, networking events and took part in The Big Vote when they debated and subsequently voted upon issues for inclusion in the national UKYP Manifesto.

Nick Gardner, Dacorum based MYP, said “I found the event very interesting and informative. I developed my skills in being able to represent other young people in our county both locally and nationally”.

Sahil Ali, Hertsmere MYP, added: “The 2015 annual sitting impressed me because of the respect shown for other opinions and political philosophies. The event was both fun and educational and I feel more confident in my ability to address a crowd, even when there are very differing arguments to mine.”