Bright young thing

Alex Delaney is sat in what looks like an old sixth-form common room in the disused school in Kennington, London, where she works. The location is where the new chair of the British Youth Council (BYC) spends part of her time employed by Tag, an organisation that helps young people who left school early to get jobs in the health and fitness industry.

The old school has now moved to a new building, which Delaney says shows the progress made in education. "I think Labour gets a hard rap around education, and they have done a lot to tinker with the system, but it's fantastic that children who used to come here are now in a new school building," she says.

Delaney believes the current government's "education, education, education" mantra will be its lasting legacy.

But the 25-year-old is quick to point out that young people feel let down by the government and politicians.

"Young people are not apathetic about politics but perhaps they are about politicians," she says. "We want politicians to be squeaky clean and we want to be inspired, and I think they've fallen short of that and they know it."

She believes young people should now play their part in changing the face of politics and politicians, by standing for election and trying to get into positions of power.

She briefly touches on her personal interests, including making her own clothes and trips to the theatre, but this is clearly a young woman consumed by her role at BYC.

"Being chair is a huge chunk of my time. I absolutely love it," she says. Voted in by the young people on the BYC board, she has been in post since November.

When asked what the role entails she reels off a list of meetings she holds with her fellow trustees. But surely the BYC is more than a training ground for young board members? "Last year we helped to set a strategy for the next three years," she says. "And last week we were living and breathing that strategy. We took a rally of 200 young people to march on Parliament and launch our general election manifesto." The manifesto was based on the views of 600 young BYC members, who chose five issues to lobby on: an equal national minimum wage for all ages; an end to child poverty by 2020; public transport concessions for under-25s; better mental health services for young people; and lowering the voting age to 16.

The latter is "the most important one", according to Delaney. She believes that only the Conservatives are not backing the voting-age reduction, but claims the party is beginning to see it is a case of "when" rather than "if".

"Young people vote in youth parliament, youth councils and young mayoral elections," she says. "When you get to the grass-roots level they are voting already - it's just not allowed at a national level."

Articulate and opinionated, Delaney fits the stereotype of a youth council board member. But her appointment as chair does little to help shake off the organisation's image of being run by well-educated and well-off young people. She admits that there is more work to do to ensure the council is representative of a broad range of young people.

"It's a struggle to ensure we're reaching the places and people who would be brilliant but wouldn't necessarily put themselves forward," claims Delaney. She adds that becoming a trustee is a lot to take on for young people but ultimately she knows her organisation must do more to represent those who may not know how to speak up for themselves.

"One of the reasons I stood as chair was because I am a woman.

I have to prove to other women that they can get into these positions - I have to push myself," she says. "It is about being aware of that leap it takes people, whether that's being a woman or being from a background where you've struggled all your life to get to the places you've got to.

We do have work to do there so I acknowledge that."

CV Dedicated to helping young people

• Delaney attended Sussex University and gained a BA in English Literature and went on to train as a journalist at City University

• For the past two years, she has worked at the charity TimeBank

• She recently started work for youth charity Tag, which offers 18- to 24-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training a six-month "journey" to help them achieve qualifications and secure jobs in the health and fitness industry

• She has been on the BYC board since 2008 and has represented the UK at the European Youth Forum. She was elected to chair the board in November 2009