Ever heard about Alexandria Ocasio Cortez? She was the youngest politician who made the headlines at the age of 29 years old and got elected to the House of Representatives during the Midterm elections 2018.
The good thing is she is not the only one in the political race, many legislators around the world stepped into politics at a very young age. Another important element is parliamentary systems have also welcomed the youngest members to participate in political activities who are up to 18 years old.
With more and more young people participating in politics, it seems like the trend will never go away and in fact, will increase with time. Young people are implementing all the ways to make their voices heard, they are going above & beyond for their country and nation’s development- which is definitely a good change after decades.
According to an estimate, more than 700 millennials ran for legislative seats in the 2018 elections and made their mark in the political world.
You must be curious to know a bit about them, so without further ado, let’s get down and meet the 10 young politicians around the world who are playing a crucial role in politics.
Alexandria Ocasio Cortez:
Ocasio tops the list of most successful youngest politicians around the world who is often called the “Darling of the Left”.
The powerful young lady immediately drew vast national attention when she beat the 10-term incumbent Joe Crowley in the Primary Election for a representative of New York’s 14th Congressional District in 2018.
With her strong intellectual and powerful branding skills, she won the election and left the entire state in complete awe.
She was only 29-years old and earned the title of the youngest woman politician who has been serving in not only the House of Representatives but dealing with all the Congress. Due to continuous success in her career, now she boasts the largest social media followings than any other politician in the US. You can see her influence on the entire US state when she moved the Democratic Party to the left by implementing innovative plans like Green New Deal. You will see her working with almost all the impactful leaders of the US on various serious issues.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari:
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is the young political sensation of Pakistan whose mother Benazir Bhutto was the former prime minister of Pakistan and Father Asif Ali Zardari was the former president of Pakistan.
After his mother’s assassination in 2007, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari took her position and became the chairman of Pakistan’s people party when he was only 19.
Despite having a strong political background, Bilawal kept his profile low and focused on finishing his degree in History at Oxford University before taking part in all the political activities. After some time, he decided to come back to Pakistan in 2010 and started to participate in politics.
He was only 29 years old and ran for parliament for the first time. During an interview with BBC, he said he is focused on working on his mother’s mission and will follow her vision of “peaceful, progressive, prosperous, and democratic Pakistan.”
Now when he is 33 years old, Bilawal is facing numerous political challenges and showing support for freedom of expression, women’s rights, civil rights, foreign policy, and terrorism.
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Sanna Marin:
Another young, enthusiastic, and brave female politician who is currently thriving as the prime minister of Finland since 2019. She is a member of the social democratic party and has been serving Parliament of Finland since 2015. Very few people know that she also served as minister of transport and communication in Finland.
She was only 34 years old when she was appointed as the prime minister of Finland. Sanna is the country’s third female prime minister and rising since her initial contributions to politics.
Luigi De Maio:
Luigi De Maio, the youngest foreign affairs minister in Italy became a rising political star of the populist five-star movement. Before being appointed as the foreign affairs minister, he also served as deputy prime minister at 31.
Lauren Underwood:
Democrat Lauren Underwood is also one of the popular youngest politicians in Congress, only at the age of 31 years. Not only that but is also the youngest Black woman who has been serving proudly in Congress.
She also has Illinois’s 14th Congressional district, which is also called Chicago’s western suburbs. And then in 2018, she ousted four-term Republican Congressman Randy Hultgren by achieving more votes.
The most incredible thing about Lauren is, she is highly experienced in the realm of science. Her expertise and skills are totally unparalleled as compared to any other member of Congress. She has not worked as a registered nurse in Chicago but also gave complete support as a senior adviser in the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
Mhairi Black:
Mhairi Black is a young and beautiful Scottish politician and a proud member of the Scottish national party. The 27 years old pretty Mhairi was re-elected in 2017 and then again in 2019.
She belongs to the Paisley United Kingdom and was only 20 years old when she got elected in 2015, making her the youngest politician and MP of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.
Black describes herself as a “traditional socialist” and inspired by Tony Ben. She is principled and passionate and contributed a lot for the Drugs consumption facility.
Steele John:
Steele-John is an Australian politician and also a disability rights advocate. He made history as the youngest senator of Australia when he got elected as a dedicated representative for the Greens party.
The sad part is Steele-John is suffering from Cerebral Palsy and is in a wheelchair. He advocates for the rights of people facing physical disabilities, including the ones who are incarcerated. He was born in England but immigrated to Perth and began his political career in 2013. He was elected to the Senate when he was only 23 years old which makes him the youngest Australian senator.
Ebba Hermansson:
Ebba Hermansson is a young Swedish politician who was a former member of Riksdag from 2018 to 2021. As she was only 22 years old, she earned the status of “Baby of the House”, which is basically a term for the youngest member of parliament.
She was elected as a Swedish democrat and also associated with the Skane county West constituency. She speaks bravely on the party’s policy and highlights the issues of gender equality and peace. Also, she never called herself a feminist and fight for equal rights.
Nusrat Jahan:
If you have watched an Indian movie “Khiladi” featuring Rahul Bose and Ankush Hazra, you must know about the very famous Nusrat Jahan who is well-known for her excellent performance in the movie. She started her career from modeling and also won the title of Fair-one Miss Kolkata in 2010.
What’s interesting about Nusrat is, she jumped into active politics in 2019. She contested, worked hard, and won the 17th Lok Sabha elections from the Basirhat constituency.
Also, she had the 2nd-highest victory margin. The young 32-year-old parliament member belongs to the All India Trinamool Congress. So, she isn’t only the actress and model who is loved by her performance but also has become an active political member in India.
Joe Cunningham:
Joseph Cunningham belongs to South Carolina. He is an active politician, lawyer, and former engineer. 29 years old Cunningham is an independent young Democrat who was elected in a hard-fought election and became the Representative of South Carolina’s 1st district in 2018. It’s important to note that it was a district that generally stretches along the coast from Charleston to Hilton Head Island.
Before performing his duties as a political representative, Cunningham worked as an Ocean Engineer-turned-Lawyer. After some time, he resigned from the position of an engineer during the Great Recession. He saw a real tough time and knows all the hardships and problems of being jobless. Still, he never gave up and continued to struggle to earn his political status.
Joe has been a very outspoken political figure, especially about environmental issues. For example, he implemented seismic testing on whales. Joe brought an iron horn and then blasted it to show the effects of testing on whales.
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Ending Thoughts:
After the coronavirus pandemic, the world has been thrust into a new environment. We are following social distancing and isolation to protect ourselves and others around us. This means young politicians are facing more unprecedented difficulties in making things work for the country. Young activists, politicians, and volunteers are taking all the possible steps to make their country a better place in the world.
But that’s not only what we need today. If we want to bring positive change and develop a healthy and productive society, we need to give more chances to young politicians who are enthusiasts and have remarkable ideas. They should have freedom of speech and be given equal rights to fight for their objective. That’s the only way we can bring more peace and justice to society.
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