For the first time in the 13-year history of the UK’s Youth Parliament, voices from the British Overseas Territories were heard in the halls of the House of Commons last week, and among them was Caymanian teenager Chad Powell Jr.
Powell, speaking with the Cayman Compass, said it still feels unreal for him to have represented his country on such an important platform.
“It really was awesome being there and I’m really grateful that I got to go,” Powell said excitedly during a Zoom interview Tuesday afternoon from his North Side home.
He and his father Chad Powell Sr. returned from the UK on Monday night and were resting after the whirlwind trip when the Compass caught up with them.
The 16-year-old said he still cannot believe he was selected to speak in the House of Commons.
“As I walked in, it was just beautiful… The amount of history in that place and just seeing all of the beautiful architecture, everything was amazing,” he said, adding that even coming out of the subway and seeing Big Ben was a thrill as it was his first time in London.
Powell was one of eight teens making history as the first representatives from the Overseas Territories to participate in the UK Youth Parliament.
He said being able to meet his fellow OT representatives and make those connections were among the highlights of the experience.
“I think Northern Ireland was close to us, and all of the Overseas Territories representatives kind of congregated in the same place,” he said. “That’s probably one of my favourite things from the experience, getting to meet all the other representatives.
“First I met [Yahya Uqaili] from the Falkland Islands and then I met people from Montserrat, people from Anguilla. It was really nice seeing all of them there, and then we were taken to another room where all of us were interviewed for the BBC, which was also really cool.”
Cost of living, climate change highlighted
Since 2009, the UK Youth Parliament has been given permission to sit in the House of Commons Chamber – the only organisation that has the privilege of sitting on the parliamentary benches other than Members of Parliament themselves.
Powell said the privilege of being able to sit in those seats and give a speech from the despatch box was not lost on him, and choosing a topic to speak on was not easy.
Powell, in his near four-minute-long speech on the topic ‘What is the most important issue facing the youth of the Cayman Islands today?’, shone the light on issues impacting young Caymanians, from climate change to cost-of-living struggles.
He pointed to the high price of housing that is forcing young Caymanians out of the dream of home ownership.
He said too many young people are saying they have to leave their homeland because “it’s too expensive to live here, [saying] ‘I’ll never be able to afford a home. I’ll never be able to afford groceries.'”
Powell, in his presentation, lamented that there are kids in the Cayman Islands worrying about their parents being able to put food on the table.
He called for cooperation among territories as they face similar issues from brain drain to climate change crises.
A first for OTs
Cayman UK representative Tasha Ebanks-Garcia lauded Powell’s contribution to the UK Youth Parliament saying that he was an ideal candidate to deliver a message on behalf of young Caymanians on such a platform.
“It was a very proud moment for me as a Caymanian to watch, to be there in Parliament to watch Chad deliver his speech. I was there with his dad. His dad flew up to London with him and he did a phenomenal job. Afterwards, my colleagues across the Overseas Territories looking in my direction [gave] thumbs up for the phenomenal job that Chad did,” she said.
Ebanks-Garcia said all indications have confirmed that this is only the beginning for Caymanian students participating in UK Youth Parliament and she is hoping youth representatives across the OTs will form a network among themselves to continue the discussions.
“The other hope that we have is that across our Overseas Territories, our youth parliamentarians will form some sort of a connection, whether it becomes … an association, an organisation, but we’re seeing the conversations across our youth, across the OTs, and that’s a … place of hope that it brings me to, in terms of the networking. The opportunity for greater collaboration across our OTs, from across our governments, but now across our young people. It’s so interesting to see what happens in that space,” she said.
Ebanks-Garcia said that the invitation for the OTs to participate in UK Youth Parliament came from the Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle.
“UK Youth Parliament is the only organisation that has been given permission to have individuals sit in the seats in the House of Common that are reserved only for elected members of Parliament. So, it’s really quite a special opportunity for UK Youth Parliamentarians to participate in that very sacred space,” she said.
Hoyle, she said, is a huge supporter of the Overseas Territories and has gone to great lengths to ensure they have partnership opportunities with the House of Commons.
Political aspirations, premiership one day
This was not the first time Powell has taken part in a Youth Parliament. He was a member of the local Youth Parliament as the deputy leader of the Opposition in the last session and will be a member in the upcoming session.
He said he intends to pursue a law degree, which he sees as a platform for his entry into politics and has set his sights on contesting elections in the future.
The ambitious student said, “First, I want run for MP of North Side, as that’s my district, that’s where I reside. I eventually do want to become premier, but definitely not right away because not only is that almost unachievable,” but he thinks it’s appropriate to get more experience in the role of an MP before heading to premier.
“I wouldn’t mind being on the Opposition one term or two either,” he said.
His father Chad Powell Sr. said he too once dreamed of a life in politics, but is now content to let his son pursue his own dreams and political aspirations.
He said as a father he was proud to see his son take centre stage at the House of Commons and articulate issues impacting the Cayman Islands.
“He has been very passionate about chasing this down for a while. He has spoken on platforms for other candidates and stuff like that before,” he said. “So, I know that it’s something that he was definitely interested in, and to see him being given the option to speak on a platform at that level and that magnitude this early in life, was not expected.”
He added, “I think he did us very proud in doing so and delivering his message.”
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What an eloquent speaker!! Very impressive delivery in such a forum.