He's a fresh-faced teenager who is hoping to bring a breath of fresh air into the local council chamber.For student Stuart King has become the youngest member to join Fakenham Town Council having recently turned 18 the qualifying age to serve on the council.

He's a fresh-faced teenager who is hoping to bring a breath of fresh air into the local council chamber.

For student Stuart King has become the youngest member to join Fakenham Town Council having recently turned 18 the qualifying age to serve on the council.

Its early days for the young politician but we all can recall a 16-year-old William Hague making his debut at the Conservative Party conference.

Mr Hague, of course, famously went on to serve as the leader of the Conservative Party.

For now, Stuart hopes that he will be able to represent the area's youngsters in debates about the town and its facilities and problems.

Stuart has a busy workload studying government and politics, geography, drama and critical thinking at A level but has already gained some valuable early experience having attended his first full council meeting and a number of leisure and environment committee meetings.

Stuart, who lives with his parents at West Barsham, is aiming to gain a place to study business management with law at the University of East Anglia in October,

But he plans to commute rather than live on campus so that he could continue with his role as a town councillor

He is looking forward to making a real contribution to council debates and says being a member of the council is a long-held ambition.

He looked into becoming a councillor after some of the members spoke of the need among their ranks of a younger person.

And there was praise for Stuart's initiative from Fakenham college director John McCourt.

“It's very encouraging to have a youthful perspective on the counciland I'm delighted for him,2 he said.

“Stuart has been studying citizenship at AS level which is all about the role of citizens in society,2 he said.

Stuart has a busy lifestyle as well as his studying and council work he also works as a team leader at Fakenham's Tesco store.