Standing for election in the 2012 local council elections, 18-year-old Adam Bellshaw is giving youth a good name.
Adam Belshaw will be 19 when the next round of Scottish local council elections take place, and he will be running for office on the Isle of Bute. The island’s three current councillors – Len Scoullar, Isobel Strong and Robert Macintyre – have had a strong following for years. None of them are under 50 and all of them make Bute’s older population – a strong feature across Argyll Bute – feel represented.
They probably don’t give a great deal of hope to Bute’s younger generations. The island’s brightest and best young minds are usually fleeing to the city by the time they reach Adam’s age. The prevailing attitude is that Bute is the place to raise your children and, rather morbidly, to die.
For anybody in between, they face an increasing struggle to find work and opportunity. The island needs some new ideas, and Adam Bellshaw is screaming from the roof tops.
Adam was born and raised in Cambuslang until the age of seven when his parents, William and Lorna, relocated the family to Bute.
“The area we lived in was a bit too dangerous, my mum didn’t want us to grow up around that. She thought it would be a nice quiet life for us. It was a lot better than Cambuslang and everyone was a lot friendlier than Glasgow,” Adam said.
“That is why I took such an interest in what’s happening on the island. I love the quietness and the community spirit.”
Student life
A tall but well-built young man, it’s a struggle to believe Adam is just 18. His commanding presence is softened by his polite and well-mannered attitude and his passion for local politics is rarely associated with someone not long out of secondary
To read the rest of this article click here. Originally published by Bute Bites.
You do not say if Adam is standing under a party label or as an independent candidate or have I missed it?
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The extended article puts him with ‘Scottish Labour’, but with a mind of his own on local issues in particular.
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Must be too early in the morning for you to work that out George, perhaps a good reason for Argyll to vote in some young Councillors. As recent performances have shown there are far too many dinosaurs in the Council, those on Bute and even yourself , time to look in the mirror!
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Not enough young people in Politics – especially at the local level. My only worry is that the sharks in A&B, rather than try to learn a younger point of view will just try to alienate Adam – assuming he wins of course, because already there are little digs at; what party – its already “lets take a partisan approach!”
I wish Adam well but I know the halls of Kilmory are pretty treacherous.
I experienced it as a 27 year old.
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