A 15-year-old Worle Community School student joined young people from across the country last week in the House of Commons Chamber in London.

Alex Ruddock was one of more than 300 pupils to take part in the UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) debate.

North Somerset does not currently have a member of the youth parliament so Alex attended in his role as chairman of the Weston Town Youth Council.

The North Somerset UKYP election for a new member will take place on January 27.

The young people were welcomed by the speaker of the House of Parliament, John Bercow MP, who introduced the session and chaired the debates.

Each debate was introduced and opposed by UKYP members and following this any member could catch the speaker’s eye and give their opinion.

Alex said he was nervous at the beginning of the debate as he did not have any idea about what was going to happen.

He said: “The first debate was pretty wow.

“I wasn’t expecting it to be like that – loud, confident and people wanting to speak.”