Destined for Success: Destiny Elected to Youth Parliament

‘Her passion and drive has galvanised others into action and I have no doubt that she has a very bright future ahead of her.’

Mrs Josephine Morgan, Head of Pupil Wellbeing

We speak to Year 12 student Destiny Rose-Forde Kennedy about her being elected as Member of Youth Parliament for Portsmouth.

As schools reopened across the UK following the third national lockdown, voting opening for the Youth Parliament elections. Created in 1999, the body seeks to ensure that young people aged 11-18 are properly represented in national and local politics. Members are elected every two years and work with youth groups and local government in their constituency and meet collectively biannually in the House of Commons, sharing the views of the young people in their area to inform policy. Not affiliated to any political party, Members of the Youth Parliament (MYPs) campaign on an issue-by-issue basis, which often involves issues around youth mental health, equality and the environment. Over fifty candidates applied to be on the ballot paper in Portsmouth, of which seven were formally nominated.

One candidate on the ballot paper was Destiny Rose-Forde Kennedy, a Year 12 pupil at PGS. A student of Politics, Spanish and Business, she campaigned on increasing diversity and inclusion and improving equality of educational opportunity, sharing her five-point manifesto and promotional material on social media. Her campaign focused primarily on representation, with an aim to ‘share experiences with people from many different backgrounds’, and placed great emphasis on getting schools to adopt a diversity and inclusion programme similar to that of PGS. Following a week of voting, she was formally elected as the Member of the Youth Parliament (MYP) for Portsmouth on Friday 19th March 2021, with Ella Reilly of Havant and South Downs College and Willow Lindstrom-Fabik of Priory School as her Deputies. She takes over from Laura Spurgeon of Admiral Lord Nelson School.

Commenting on her success, Head of Year 12, Mrs Clay, remarked that she was ‘delighted that Destiny has been elected as Portsmouth’s MYP’, adding that her ‘passion and drive have made a huge impression on the school’ and that she ‘campaigned hard and effectively engaged pupils across the school community to support her’. Mrs Morgan, Head of Pupil Wellbeing, said that she was ‘so proud of Destiny and cannot think of a more deserving candidate for MYP...Her passion and drive has galvanised others into action and I have no doubt that she has a very bright future ahead of her.’

Destiny began her time at PGS in Year 12, having previously been a student at Mayfield School, Portsmouth. Chief Editor of the Portmuthian, Thomas Locke, spoke with Destiny on the day of her election victory to discuss her campaign and aspirations within the Youth Parliament.

Your manifesto placed great emphasis on diversity and inclusion and bridging the education gap between state and private schools. How will you navigate those issues, perhaps starting first with diversity and inclusion?

As you know, we have done anti-racism training across all year groups at PGS, and that training has been made into a webinar and shared with local schools in the area. We’re aiming to have similar talks on gender equality and LGBT+ representation with the aim of increasing education around diversity and inclusion, making sure that everyone knows what is appropriate and not, and making people from minority backgrounds feel more comfortable in the spaces we all share. I think it’s really important to start with education because it is key to resolving these problems, which typically arise from when people are misinformed or uneducated on a certain topic.

On bridging the education gap between state and private schools...that’s a systemic problem. How might you try to tackle that?

Yes, and this is also an international problem. But on a local level, I’ve held discussions with governors from Mayfield School, which I attended before PGS, and with governors at PGS about opportunities for collaboration. I am also the ambassador for the CAW (Community and Workplace) programme in Year 12 and have been speaking with Miss Basra about the prospect of doing courses during the summer -when COVID restrictions are more relaxed when we can perhaps work with local schools to run tutoring programmes or anything that would increase relations between our school and local state schools. As someone who attended a state school all my life before attending PGS, I can definitely see the disparities between the two systems. I feel that some people in the state sector feel let down from a lack of government funding, so I’m keen to use my

Presumably, this also ties into PGS’ Giving Day. What was your role in that?

That’s right, I was one of the ambassadors for PGS Giving Day. We worked together to come up with ideas on how to raise as much money as possible to fund bursaries and scholarships for those who would not have otherwise been able to come to this school. I am on a full scholarship so this is something I feel is really important. I definitely see the benefits that it can bring; it’s actually life-changing.

This last year has been incredible in politics, both in terms of COVID, but also with issues of race in the UK and America with Black Lives Matter. I wonder what inspires you during this time?

My experience keeps me going. I didn’t particularly feel that I had a voice when I was younger and I know that if there was someone championing the issues that I campaign on when I was younger, I would have felt more encouraged to get involved. I know that representation is so important so I’m glad that I’ve been able to get this opportunity so that people who don’t feel they have a voice can see that I’m ready to bring it out of them. I want to represent people from all backgrounds and don’t want to make any people feel insignificant.

When did all this start for you, when was your political awakening?

Well, I’ve always been keen to hear the stories of those around me and to learn more about social issues, but definitely over the past few years with Black Lives Matter, I’ve wanted to get involved with that because of my own personal experiences and the experiences of others around me. I believe that there should be a level playing field, regardless of your background, so within the past few years, I’ve been trying to educate others and campaign as much as I can.

You become the MYP for Portsmouth with Ella Reilly and Willow Lindstrom-Fabik as your deputies, taking over from Laura Spurgeon. What kind of impression do you want to make during your time in office?

Well, I feel that there’s a lot of apathy among young people as we’re generally blamed quite a lot and can’t vote and hold government members accountable in that way. I want to bring in everyone’s voices and opinions and make sure that I’m not leading this role, I want the people who have elected me to be leading this role and to be co-operating with them and the deputies to make sure we can make real change. Also, as this is such a privileged position, I will have some influence, that I’m able to speak to certain people that I possibly wouldn’t have been able to without being MYP.

I wonder also, logistically, how big of a role of is it? How much time will it take up?

I don’t feel like it will be anything damaging in terms of the amount of time it takes up. But, as with anything, it’s what you choose to give to it, and I want to give a lot. If I want anything to actually happen, it’ll take time and effort so I’m willing to give what is needed to bring about that change.

Laura Spurgeon is in the role currently. What kind of work will you inherit from her?

I know that she’s been thinking about youth mental health and protecting the environment and these are things I look forward to taking on and were also in my manifesto.

Did you enjoy the process of writing the manifesto? It must have felt very real all of a sudden…

I actually study Politics at A-Level, so it was very interesting to study the theory of political campaigning and then to put it into practice. It allowed me to write down what I do anyway and things I already think about a lot.

You can get updates on Destiny’s political campaigning through her official Instagram account, @DestinyKennedyMYP