Teenager hoping to be Kingston and Surbiton's MP

A politics student at Royal Holloway, University of London, is believed to be the youngest candidate running to be an MP in London.

James Giles, 19, is a first-year student and plans on campaigning between lectures and seminars in an effort to become an independent MP for Kingston and Surbiton. Although he hasn’t told his tutors about that yet.

He faces a near impossible task against Deputy Liberal Democrat Leader and current MP, Ed Davey, and the Conservative candidate Aphra Brandreth, daughter of the former conservative MP and broadcaster Gyles Brandreth.

Despite being born in 2000, James is no stranger to politics as a well-known local campaigner and regular figure at Kingston Council meetings. However, this means he has already been subject to abuse and attacks on social media, like many of his better-known opponents.

Growing up on an “overcrowded council estate” James believes he can offer a different perspective in his proposals for Kingston. He is also campaigning to increase the number of police on the streets, supporting local schools being hit by cuts, standing up for the local hospital and the NHS, and supporting the high street.

But surely he doesn’t stand much of a chance against such well-known figures as Ed Davey and Aphra Brandreth, especially in an election so focused on Brexit?

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