A TWENTY-year-old from Sedbergh says his ambition to become an MP has been boosted by his speech-making debut at the Conservative Party conference.

Jake Cowperthwaite said it was a "privilege" to talk for three minutes on the economy to around 350 people.

The third-year politics and business student took a day off from his industry placement at Sedbergh’s Roof Box Company to deliver his message.

Broadcast live on screens around the Birmingham venue and on the BBC Parliament channel, Jake cut a smart figure in a crisp white shirt and dark suit as he talked about youth unemployment falling by 48 per cent since 2010.

A party member since he was just 16, Jake had taken up the party's invitation for members to submit and deliver their own speech. He was given just 24 hours’ notice of his appearance, and said: “I was very excited. I was really pleased as well because people had approved it and thought it was credible.”

The Aston University student said: "After the speech it was nice people recognised me; they smiled and said hello and passed compliments that showed they had listened to the contents of the speech.”

Jake lives with mum Rachel, a matron at Sedbergh School, dad Tony, a school groundsman, and sister Grace, in Sedbergh. He said his parents felt "very proud", and he hoped the speech would show young people they could "connect" with politics.

The would-be MP added: "Sometimes the feeling we have in this area is we are so far from the decision-making centre of London, people feel perhaps detached from politics. It's nice to show it's not necessarily where we live that matters, it's what we do with what we believe."