Oliver James Phillips

Oliver James Phillips is a young parliamentarian from Stafford, Staffordshire, UK. At just 17 years old he has represented the 878,000 young people in the West Midlands on the UK Youth Parliaments Procedures Group for 2 years (2009-2011). Prior to this Oli was a Member of Youth Parliament for Stafford (2008-2009).
Background
Oliver was raised in Stafford and was educated at King Edward VI High School, Stafford in Staffordshire. He first came to politics under the guidance of his Citizenship teacher Mrs Hulme, who taught him at King Edwards. After joining the Stafford and Stone District Youth Forum and winning the Chairman election, he decided to stand for the UK Youth Parliament.
UK Youth Parliament
In 2008 Oliver ran for election in the UK Youth Parliament.He won the election, and thus represented the Stafford constituency as a Member of the UK Youth Parliament(MYP). In his first year as an MYP Oli founded a campaign called Bite Back, which aimed to get the Mosquito Device banned. In 2010 he gained the support of the European Youth Forum and the Council of Europe for his efforts. He also met with then Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the Home Secretary Alan Johnson to raise the awareness of the Mosquito Devices unregulated use against British Young People and Children. He went on to meet the creator of the Device, Howard Stapleton and Natascha Engel MP in an attempt to find a middle ground on the devices use.
Oli has also been heavily involved with YAK representing local young people on a Staffordshire County Wide Youth Council, organising a number of conferences and meetings to bridge the gap between decision makers and young people.
As an MYP, on the 31st October 2009, Oli became one of the first ever persons other than elected MP's to speak and debate in the House of Commons. He also took part in the 2010 UK Youth Parliament House of Commons debates. Both events having huge historic importance. Oli lobbied his local MP successfully to vote for the UK Youth Parliament House of Commons Debates in 2010. A vote which means the UK Youth Parliament will have a debate in the chamber once per year for the life of this current Parliament.
At the end of his first term as MYP for Stafford, Oli decided to stand for the role of the West Midlands Procedures Group Representative (PG) in October 2009. He went on to win this election. As a PG Oli helped to organise the first ever UK Youth Parliament Annual Sitting in Northern Ireland. He also facilitated the activities of the UK Youth Parliament within the West Midlands. Oli was re-elected as a PG for the West Midlands in December 2010, and is currently serving his second year as a PG.

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