Junaid Ashraf is an experienced advocate for youth empowerment and has represented Cumbernauld as a Councillor since 2017.

Starting his career as a member of the Scottish Youth Parliament, Junaid launched the “Care. Fair. Share.” campaign to increase support for young carers across Scotland. He then focused on promoting mental health awareness and created a successful youth forum. As an environmental enthusiast, Junaid attended the United Nations COP22 environmental conference in Morocco and has advocated for the climate change emergency to be declared within his local authority. He has also used his position as a Councillor to support poverty action groups, deaf service organisations and BAME sports youth groups. 

Junaid has led on equalities campaigns nationally and has previously volunteered as a trustee of Equal Scotland. His career has led him to represent Scotland in Rwanda as part of an interfaith program, attend the U.S. Embassy’s Young Leader’s exchange program in Washington D.C. and advocate in the House of Commons for 16-year-olds to vote in all UK elections.