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Cara Hunter

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Cara Hunter
MLA
Hunter in 2021
Member of the Legislative Assembly
for East Londonderry
Incumbent
Assumed office
18 May 2020
Preceded byJohn Dallat
Member of Derry City and Strabane District Council
In office
2 May 2019 – 18 May 2020
Preceded byMaolíosa McHugh
Succeeded bySteven Edwards
ConstituencyDerg
Personal details
Born (1995-11-08) 8 November 1995 (age 29)
Northern Ireland
NationalityIrish
Political partySocial Democratic and Labour Party
Alma materCalifornia State University, Northridge
Liverpool John Moores University
OccupationCommunications/PR
Websitehttps://www.sdlp.ie/cara_hunter

Cara Hunter MLA (born 8 November 1995[1]) is an Irish Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician, currently serving as a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for East Londonderry, a position she has held since 18 May 2020.[2] She is the youngest ever elected female politician in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Early life

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Hunter grew up in the Causeway Coast and Tyrone area[3] and then moved to the United States at nine years old, attending Simi Valley High School in California and studying broadcast journalism at California State University, Northridge.[4] She completed her degree at Liverpool John Moores University.[3]

Hunter was crowned Miss Intercontinental 2017, becoming the first contestant from Northern Ireland to win the beauty pageant, after entering it to honour a close friend who died by suicide at the age of 20. As pageant titleholder, she served as an ambassador for Me4Mental, a mental health charity in Derry.[5]

Career

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Hunter was elected to Derry City and Strabane District Council on 2 May 2019 and was elected as the youngest female ever to be Deputy Mayor of Derry City and Strabane.[6]

Hunter stood in East Londonderry at the December 2019 general election, finishing second with 6,158 votes (15.7%) to Gregory Campbell of the Democratic Unionist Party.[7] She was co-opted to the Northern Ireland Assembly after the death of John Dallat in May 2020.[8][9][10][11] She is the SDLP's mental health spokesperson.[12]

Hunter was the target of a harassment campaign during the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election, in which a pornographic clip, falsely claimed as featuring Hunter, was circulated on social media. Hunter received abusive and sexually explicit messages from men as a result.[13] She described them as an "intimidation tactic" to make her feel embarrassed and humiliated.[14]

She is also founder of the Addiction and Dual Diagnosis All-Party Group in the Northern Ireland Assembly which launched in 2020.

She stood again in East Londonderry at the 2024 general election, though was pushed into third place by Sinn Féin's Kathleen McGurk. Hunter polled 5,260 votes (12.7%), a decrease of 3.7%.[15][16]

Personal life

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In October 2021, Hunter revealed that she had been diagnosed with a brain tumour on her first day at Stormont, saying that her condition was not "life-threatening" but "life-altering".[17]

References

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  1. ^ "Birthday tweet". Twitter. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Cara Hunter MLA | People". SDLP.
  3. ^ a b Pow, Jamie (27 April 2019). "Meet the candidate: Cara Hunter". Northern Slant. Archived from the original on 25 May 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  4. ^ Stewart, Linda (7 October 2020). "The Big Ask with SDLP MLA Cara Hunter: 'Mum gave me a great work ethic... she is an inspiration'". Belfast Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  5. ^ Corr, Shauna (18 September 2017). "Chance to fight suicide inspired NI's first Miss Continental to crown". BelfastLive. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  6. ^ Pow, Jamie (27 April 2019). "Meet the candidate: Cara Hunter". Archived from the original on 25 May 2020.
  7. ^ "No surprises in East Londonderry as Gregory Campbell retains his seat". www.londonderrysentinel.co.uk.
  8. ^ "SDLP co-opt Cara Hunter as East Londonderry MLA". BBC News. 18 May 2020.
  9. ^ McConville, Marie Louise (18 May 2020). "Cara Hunter selected as new East Derry assembly member following passing of John Dallat". The Irish News.
  10. ^ "Derry Deputy Mayor Cara Hunter selected by SDLP to replace late East Derry MLA John Dallat". www.derryjournal.com.
  11. ^ "Cara Hunter is new East Derry SDLP MLA following sad passing of John Dallat". www.derryjournal.com.
  12. ^ "Hunter welcomes Executive task force on mental health | 2020 | News". SDLP.
  13. ^ Morris, Allison (9 May 2022). "Cara Hunter MLA: Stress of fake clip made my life absolutely horrific in election run-up". Belfast Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  14. ^ "'Cruel and malicious': sexist attacks dampen joy for Stormont's new female members". the Guardian. 15 May 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  15. ^ "East Londonderry - General election results 2024 - BBC News". BBC News. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  16. ^ "East Londonderry results - General Election 2024". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  17. ^ "SDLP MLA Cara Hunter: I found out I had a brain tumour on my first day at Stormont". belfasttelegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cara Hunter.
Civic offices
Preceded by MLA for East Londonderry
18 May 2020–present 		Incumbent
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