An Oldham parish councillor has reflected on his journey to making history as one of the borough's youngest representatives ever.

Tom Penketh, of Shaw, was just 18 years old when he gained 812 votes to be elected to the Shaw and Crompton Parish Council in May.

The teenager has spent the last six months as one of the youngest councillors in the UK.

He has had a rapid rise within the ranks, taking on this role just a short time after finding his interest in politics.

He said: “I discovered my interest in politics during the US Election when I was in Year 11.

"I managed to get onto the youth council through school, and then realised I wanted to do this sort of thing on a bigger scale.”

The councillor added: “The election fell perfectly because it was just after I turned 18. I thought ‘Why not?’ and went for it.

"I managed to get it and I was obviously buzzing, but I think it shows that the area wants to see more young faces representing them, and that gave me a lot of confidence.”

Tom was taken under the wing of both Cllr Howard Sykes MBE and Cllr Louie Hamblett, both of whom he says were very helpful when it came to preparing him for the role.

He is a representative of the Liberal Democrats party alongside the pair.

He also shared that due to his age he sometimes feels he is treated differently and patronised but reminds himself that "I’m here for a reason. People have chosen me and want me to represent them”.

He explained that, in his first six months in the role, he has worked hard to prove himself, but his biggest achievement is the reward he gets from helping people.

He said: “That feeling of saying to someone ‘You brought this [issue] to me and we’ve managed to get it fixed’ is great, but what’s even better is them then just saying something even as little as ‘Thank you’. It just makes you feel like you’ve done a good job.

“Going home knowing you’ve made a [positive] difference to someone is the biggest thing, really.”

When Cllr Penketh was elected, he was just about to sit his A-levels.

This meant he had to find a balance between work and studying, which he said was hard, explaining: “I’d spend the week revising and help the Parish Council at the weekend.”

“I probably could’ve done a bit better in my A-levels but I’m bad as saying ‘no’ to people and wanted to help.

"I remember [on] the day I was elected, I had a paper. Just to be in the middle of it all was absolutely brilliant. Stressful, but such a good time.”

Cllr Penketh’s ambitions are high, and he is hopeful that this is just the beginning of a long journey in politics.

He explained his goals, saying: “I’d love to be able to be an MP and be able to represent where I live on a national level. Working at the highest level I can for my residence would be a great thing to do.”

His target for the next four years is to deliver on his promises and help people across the whole area, not just Crompton West.