I'm a Reform councillor at 18 - friends won't talk to me but it's worth it

Sienna Churcher became one of the nation's youngest councillors last week after winning a by-election aged just 18. It hasn't been easy. She has defined the stereotype which says young people should back left-wing causes, and many of her friends stopped talking to her when she announced she was joining Nigel Farage's Reform.

But the A-level student hopes to use her position on Barrow Town Council to highlight issues that concern her and other young people in the Cumbrian town, with crime top of the list. She said: "There are assaults against women and the police are not doing anything about it. They say there is not enough evidence, and they leave it at that."

Miss Churcher personally knows a number of young women and girls who have been assaulted and her mother has now bought her a self-defence spray which covers an attacker with dye.

She said: "My best friend's mother has bought her the same thing. People are frightened. Especially women. We are all very frightened."

Despite being a small town, Barrow was rocked by a grooming gang scandal last year when three brothers were found guilty of child sex offences in Barrow and Leeds. Some victims were as young as six or seven when the abuse began.

Miss Churcher said: "I want to feel safe and for my friends to feel safe in their own country. And I want the pride back of being British."

Other issues that concern her include the state of the economy and housing, after family homes in Barrow were snapped up by landlords and turned into houses in multiple occupation, which typically means bedrooms are rented out separately.

She doesn't believe Labour has the answers but has no confidence in the Conservatives either, arguing that the recent Tory government achieved little except for pushing up inflation.

"From watching the Conservatives being in and then Labour being in, there is just no change and they don't seem to make the country any better.

"So I thought, why don't we go for a party that hasn't been in yet and is strong, and just give them a chance."