Dumfries and Galloway Youth Council

Dumfries & Galloway Youth Council Elections 2021-2023

The next elections for Dumfries and Galloway Youth Council inc. the Scottish Youth Parliament will be in November 2023. If you are interested in finding out more about becoming a candidate, leave your details here and we'll be in touch when the expression of interest phase opens.

There are 35 representatives on Dumfries and Galloway Youth Council, this includes: 

• 24 Ward Youth Councillors (there are 2 elected per ward area) 
  • Stranraer & the Rhins
  • Mid Galloway & Wigtown West
  • Dee & Glenkens
  • Castle Douglas & Crocketford
  • Abbey
  • Nith
  • Lochar
  • North West Dumfries
  • Mid & Upper Nithsdale
  • Annandale North
  • Annandale South
  • Annandale East and Eskdale
• 7 Nominated Youth Councillors (1 for each nominated or seldom heard group):
  • Young carers
  • Young people with Additional Support Needs and Disabilities
  • Care experienced young people
  • Young parents
  • Ethnic minority young people
  • Gypsy traveller young people
  • LGBT young people
• 4 Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament 
  • 2 for Dumfriesshire
  • 2 for Galloway & West Dumfries

What They Do

Youth Councillors and Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament are responsible for advocating on behalf of young people to local (Elected Members) and national (MPs and MSPs) decision makers to ensure that young people's voice are heard and acted upon.  

The Youth Council meet every week with meetings online and in person, if you have an idea or issue you'd like the Youth Council to discuss or take action on, you can submit this here.

Scottish Youth Parliament

The Scottish Youth Parliament is the nationally recognised voice of Scotland's young people aged 12-25. There are over 160 MSYPs from every area in Scotland and a number of MSYPs who represent National Voluntary Organisations such as LGBT Youth Scotland, Scouts, Scripture Union, and Who Cares? Scotland. For every constituency MSP, there are 2 MSYPs and in Dumfries and Galloway we have 2 constituency areas: 

• Dumfriesshire - this covers the east of the region including parts of Nithsdale (Dumfries, Sanquhar, Kirkconnel, Kelloholm, Thornhill) and Annandale and Eskdale (Annan, Moffat, Lockerbie, Langholm and Gretna)
• Galloway and West Dumfries - this covers the west of the region including Stewartry (Kirkcudbright, Castle Douglas, Dalbeattie, Gatehouse of Fleet and Dalry), and Wigtownshire (Newton Stewart, Stranraer, Whithorn, Wigtown)

3 times per year, our regions MSYPs participate in National Sittings which brings all MSYPs together to debate motions, create policy and participate in different committees and campaigns.

For more information on the work of the Scottish Youth Parliament, you can visit: https://syp.org.uk/

If you want to check out what the Youth Council are upto, you can check us out on social media @YouthCouncilDG on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook & YouTube.