by Paul Goodman
We have had the following bids for Britain's youngest Conservative Councillor, after asking on the site recently who qualifies. (We opened the bidding with Cllr Jodie Jones of Cannock Chase Council.)
- Cllr Stephen Canning, Braintree, 18. (who wrote in: thank you!)
- Cllr Callum Chadwick, Shevington Parish Council, 18.
- Cllr Stuart Green, Breckland, 18.
- Cllr Jennifer O'Grady, Waverley, 18.
- Cllr Jack Brereton, Stoke on Trent, 19.
- Cllr Becky Brunskill, Durham County Council, 19.
- Cllr James Binns, New Forest, 20.
- Cllr Laura Webster, South Norfolk, 20.
- Cllr Frankie McHugo, Harborough 21.
- Cllr Rhodri Oliver, North Norfolk, 21.
- Cllr Jonathan Gullis, Stratford-upon-Avon, 21.
- Cllr Andrew Sheldon, Castle Point, 22.
- Cllr Gary Sambrook, Birmingham, 22.
For better or worse, I've tended not to count in anyone who was clearly elected before last May: none, in any event, would beat our four front-runners for the title. Congratulations to all those of any age who in their time have won - or indeed lost - council seats for fighting the good fight in the first place.
A "Local Tory" wrote very precisely that Cllr Green is 18 years "and two months", so I suspect that he will take some beating, and a photograph of him appears above.
Footnote: "SotonBoy": wrote that "Southampton also had two 19 year olds as cabinet members". I have inspected the photos, and am assuming that have-a-go-hero Cllr Royston Smith isn't one of them. I am also exluding Cllr Ivan White, though there is of course an appeals process.
That leaves Cllrs Peter Baillie, Daniel Fitzhenry, John Hannides and Jeremy Moulton. My money is on the second plus one other, but photos can be deceptive.