The votes are in, we are pleased to announce that Iannis Bonciu, a student at Eastbrook school, has been elected as the borough’s Young Mayor for the 2026-27 term.
Iannis was selected by members of the Barking and Dagenham Youth Forum, taking over from outgoing Young Mayor, Raspreet Singh.
After being elected, Iannis said:
'I could not be more grateful to be elected as this year’s Young Mayor. I was honestly shocked to be elected, considering the incredible competition that I was running up against, so this honour will not be wasted.
This was only made possible by all the incredible people I met at the youth forum and the amazing people who supported me throughout the year, like my friends, youth workers and my family. If it weren’t for them, I would not have been the person who was able to get everyone’s vote.
I am extremely excited about what this opportunity will bring for me, the incredible new people that I’m bound to meet, the lessons that I will learn and the future events that I will attend that I know will be extremely fun. For this year, I promise to put all my soul into using this opportunity to make a big enough change so that I can make at least someone’s life a little bit better.
Without further ado, let’s rip into it!'
Iannis’s term as Young Mayor
Iannis’s term will run from March 2026 until February 2027.
He will work alongside one of the BAD Youth Forum sub-groups to fundraise for their chosen charity, which this year is Young Carers. The charity offers advice, information and support for young people aged 8-18 years old, who care for someone in their family with a long-term illness, disability, mental health condition or drug and alcohol misuse.
As Young Mayor, he will also attend formal events and represent the views of young people across the borough on issues that matter to them.