"If you think your voice doesn't matter - become that voice" - A convo with Nathan Wilson
At 18, Nathan Wilson became one of the youngest councillors in Ipswich. Now 23, he's fighting for roads, youth spaces, and a town that actually listens to its young people.
Nathan Wilson grew up in Chantry and Stoke Park — the southwest corner of Ipswich. He walked those roads, knew his area. And at 18, he decided that if everyone was going to complain about the council without doing anything about it, he might as well actually try.
He's now the Suffolk County Councillor for Chantry and a Borough Councillor for Stoke Park. At 23, he's one of the youngest elected representatives in the region. We sat down with him to talk politics, potholes, £20 million in new funding — and why he thinks the youth council getting knocked back to 2028 is a genuinely intriguing decision.
How he got here
Nathan's interest in politics didn't start with a textbook - those types of things haven't reached the compulsory curriculum just yet.
It started in 2016, watching the Brexit referendum campaigns with his mum — debates, arguments, the whole theatre of it. He was 13. By 16, he was walking into a political hustings at St Joseph's College, surrounded by sixth-formers and adults, being the only kid from Stoke Park in the room.
"I remember walking in — I was the only one who was a high schooler," he says. "Surrounded by A-level students. But I found it really interesting. You see the way politics affects everything — whether it's on a local level, by county, or up in Parliament."
What actually made you join the Conservative Party at 16?
Growing up in Chantry, I saw people who had more potential than me — more intelligence, more ability — but they believed they'd never reach it. And part of what appealed to me about the Conservatives was that idea: things are difficult, but you don't have to be stuck where you are. Boris Johnson's leveling up agenda — giving communities like mine the tools to better themselves — that's what got me in.
And you were actually door-knocking at 16?
They threw me in the deep end. I was campaigning in May 2019 — not a great election for Conservatives, I should say. Good learning though — sink or swim. But yeah, I did the general election too, and then campaigned on my own candidacy when I was 18 in Chantry.
The £20 million question
A few weeks ago, big news landed for Stoke Park and Chantry: £20 million in Pride in Place funding is coming to the area. That's £2 million a year over 10 years — managed by a board of local residents, not just councillors.
It sounds massive. But Nathan's cautious. He's seen funding before — the £25 million Town's Deal Fund — drag and drag before being spent, while other councils moved fast. His worry is history repeating itself.
What should the money actually be spent on?
Roads are a big one. Anyone you ask in Chantry will say potholes. The problem is the roads were built in the 60s on a concrete base that's not deep enough — so it just keeps crumbling back up. We'd need to deepen and properly modernise the foundations. That's expensive, but it would fix things long-term instead of patching the same roads over and over. Beyond roads, I want to see third spaces — reopening those listed buildings in Bourne Park that have been sitting abandoned, more spaces for teenagers, more investment in education. Adult illiteracy in Chantry was something I genuinely didn't know was that big of an issue until I became a councillor. That generational cycle — low attainment in parents, low attainment in kids — that's what we need to break.
What about the old Stoke/Chantry rivalry — will the two areas actually agree on how to spend it together?
When I lived in Chantry, you'd walk home in your Stoke uniform and people would try and fight you. But I think it's kind of changed — now it's Stoke and Chantry versus everyone else. There's more in common between the two than with people from the other side of town. I think there's a strong connection there now. I mean, everyone's adults. There's a lot of things that could benefit Stoke or benefit Chantry that will benefit both.
The youth council that nearly wasn't
Ipswich was the first town in England to sign the Power of Youth Charter. Nathan proposed a youth council for the Borough. It had genuine support. It had a plan — two representatives per school, meetings running before council sessions to save on costs. This wasn't something pulled out of thin air - it was already working brilliantly in East Suffolk.
It got knocked back. Pushed to 2028 at the earliest. The official reason: the unitary council transition process would make it too complicated right now.
Sure!
"East Suffolk already has a youth council on the same system I proposed," he says flatly. "If I had been a Labour councillor, it would have gone through."
Do young people in Ipswich actually feel heard?
I think it's definitely fair to say [they don't always feel heard]. When I'm out at youth sports clubs in Chantry, I always ask the kids — not just the coaches — and they feel there's a lack of third spaces, a lack of stuff for teenagers. There is a definite age gap between councillors and young people — sometimes it's about a 70-year gap. But I don't think it's anyone's fault per se. And I don't think it's an age gap — I think it's a mentality age gap. You can be 80 and connecting with 17-year-olds, and it works. You just have to actually listen.
What about votes at 16 — do you support it?
I believe the age of voting should always be linked with the age of standing for representation. Their proposed plan is you can vote at 16 but only stand for election at 18. I believe it always needs to be linked. If people think 16 is too young to be elected, then don't have voting at 16 either — but they should always be the same. That's my issue with it.
Social media, death threats, and why he barely posts
Here's a number: Nathan ran for council at 18 and almost immediately received a message from a burner account threatening to behead him. For a council seat. In Ipswich.
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He's thoughtful about social media — probably more than most people his age. He doesn't think it's inherently evil, but he thinks the algorithm is a trap, and he's watched it pull people into increasingly extreme views.
You said you despise social media. But politicians kind of need it now, right?
It's a catch-22. I know it's necessary — people use it, you need to get your message across. But I've seen it ruin people. They get obsessed, it stops being their real life and becomes the screen. And the vitriol — when I was running for election I got a message from a burner account: "We're going to find you, we're going to behead you, stick your head on a pike." For a councillor seat. It's disgusting and uncomfortable. But I also think it shows how frustrated people are — politics makes them feel that way. That's worth understanding, even if the expression is awful.
"All it takes is one click on one post and it can bring you down that rabbit hole. That's the social media pipeline."
Ipswich in 2036
Ask Nathan what Ipswich looks like in 10 years and he lights up — talking about arts, graduate jobs, and the university finally coming into its own. He talks about a play by a Chantry girl that exploded onto off-Broadway. About Dance East producing performers who are "hitting the ground running across the country." About a town that could become a proper cultural capital — if it gets the investment.
He also talks about the brain drain problem with the same kind of quiet frustration. Get your A-levels in Ipswich. Go to university. Get your degree. And then what? There's nothing for graduates to come back to. So they leave.
What's your realistic hope for Ipswich in 10 years?
Nathan spoke about this across several points in the conversation.
- On the arts: "Ipswich really punches above its weight in terms of arts." He pointed to work coming directly out of Chantry — including a play that "exploded onto off-Broadway and off West End" — and to Dance East producing performers "hitting the ground running across the country."
- On the university: he said it's "finally coming into its own" in its research role and "bringing in multi-millions for the town."
- On jobs, he said he'd love to see more graduate opportunities so that people who love the town don't have to leave. "I'd hope to see more graduate jobs coming in — and if we get increased investment in the arts, it could really explode and make Ipswich a proper cultural capital."
Reform is rising, Labour is struggling — what's your honest read on where we are?
Nathan drew on something his old history teacher told him: "When the centre collapses and the centre doesn't serve people, they go to extremes."
He was talking about Weimar Germany.
Nathan was clear: "I'm not calling Reform that" — but said you can see the pattern. He said the Conservatives had a decent record that unravelled in the final years — "Liz Truss, let's be honest, she was shambolic. I liked Rishi — he was a good stabiliser — but he didn't do enough to really dig us out of it."
On Labour: "Starmer is technically more unpopular than Jeremy Corbyn by a good amount."
He said Conservatives are recovering — "up about seven points on where we were last year" — but that the bigger picture is a pull to the left with the Greens and to the right with Reform. His overall read: "A lot of promises, no detail."
His message to you
We closed by asking Nathan directly — what would he say to a young person in Ipswich who feels like their voice doesn't matter?
At 23, Nathan is proof that you don't have to wait until you're older, more experienced, or more certain. The youngest voices in the room are often the ones asking the questions nobody else thought to ask.
Nathan Wilson is the Suffolk County Councillor for Chantry and Borough Councillor for Stoke Park, Ipswich. This interview was conducted by 1473 and has been edited for length and clarity. (and for the pleasure of your reading)
