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Northern Ireland politician From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
Cara Hunter | |
|---|---|
Hunter in 2021 | |
| Member of the Legislative Assembly for East Londonderry | |
| Assumed office 18 May 2020 | |
| Preceded by | John Dallat |
| Member of Derry City and Strabane District Council | |
| In office 2 May 2019 – 18 May 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Maolíosa McHugh |
| Succeeded by | Steven Edwards |
| Constituency | Derg |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 8 November 1995 Northern Ireland |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Political party | Social Democratic and Labour Party |
| Alma mater | California State University, Northridge Liverpool John Moores University |
| Occupation | Communications/PR |
| Website | https://www.sdlp.ie/cara_hunter |
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]
Hunter was elected to Derry City and Strabane District Council on 2 May 2019 and was elected Deputy Mayor of Derry.[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 the as an "intimidation tactic" to make her feel embarrassed and humiliated.[14]
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]
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]
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