Cara Hunter
{{short description|Northern Ireland politician (born 1995)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Cara Hunter
| honorific-suffix = MLA
| image = Cara Hunter 2021.jpg
| caption = Hunter in 2021
| office = Member of the Legislative Assembly
for East Londonderry
| assembly = Northern Ireland
| predecessor = John Dallat
| successor =
| majority =
| term_start = 18 May 2020
| term_end =
| office2 = Member of Derry City and Strabane District Council
|constituency2 = Derg
| predecessor2 = Maolíosa McHugh
| successor2 = Steven Edwards
| majority2 =
| term_start2 = 2 May 2019
| term_end2 = 18 May 2020
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1995|11|8|df=y}}
| birth_place = Northern Ireland
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = Irish
| party = Social Democratic and Labour Party
| occupation = Communications/PR
| alma_mater = {{Nowrap|California State University, Northridge
Liverpool John Moores University}}
| spouse =
| children =
| website = https://www.sdlp.ie/cara_hunter
}}
Cara Hunter MLA (born 8 November 1995{{Cite web|title=Birthday tweet|url=https://twitter.com/carahuntermla/status/1457771426803437574|url-status=live|access-date=2021-11-09|website=Twitter|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211108182352/https://twitter.com/CaraHunterMLA/status/1457771426803437574 |archive-date=8 November 2021 }}) 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sdlp.ie/people/cara-hunter/|title=Cara Hunter MLA | People|website=SDLP}} She is the youngest ever elected female politician in the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Early life
Hunter grew up in the Causeway Coast and Tyrone area{{Cite web |last=Pow |first=Jamie |date=2019-04-27 |title=Meet the candidate: Cara Hunter |url=https://www.northernslant.com/meet-the-candidate-cara-hunter/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200525164704/https://www.northernslant.com/meet-the-candidate-cara-hunter/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=25 May 2020 |access-date=2022-05-18 |website=Northern Slant |language=en-GB}} 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.{{Cite news |last=Stewart |first=Linda |date=7 October 2020 |title=The Big Ask with SDLP MLA Cara Hunter: 'Mum gave me a great work ethic... she is an inspiration' |language=en-GB |work=Belfast Telegraph |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/features/the-big-ask-with-sdlp-mla-cara-hunter-mum-gave-me-a-great-work-ethic-she-is-an-inspiration-39594185.html |access-date=2022-05-18 |issn=0307-1235}} She completed her degree at Liverpool John Moores University.
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.{{Cite web |last=Corr |first=Shauna |date=2017-09-18 |title=Chance to fight suicide inspired NI's first Miss Continental to crown |url=http://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/chance-fight-suicide-inspired-northern-13639561 |access-date=2022-05-18 |website=BelfastLive |language=en}}
Career
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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.northernslant.com/meet-the-candidate-cara-hunter/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200525164704/https://www.northernslant.com/meet-the-candidate-cara-hunter/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=25 May 2020|title=Meet the candidate: Cara Hunter|first=Jamie|last=Pow|date=27 April 2019}}
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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.londonderrysentinel.co.uk/news/politics/no-surprises-east-londonderry-gregory-campbell-retains-his-seat-1340838|title=No surprises in East Londonderry as Gregory Campbell retains his seat|website=www.londonderrysentinel.co.uk}} She was co-opted to the Northern Ireland Assembly after the death of John Dallat in May 2020.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-foyle-west-52703525|title=SDLP co-opt Cara Hunter as East Londonderry MLA|work=BBC News |date=18 May 2020}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2020/05/18/news/cara-hunter-selected-as-new-east-derry-assembly-member-following-passing-of-john-dallat-1942151/|title=Cara Hunter selected as new East Derry assembly member following passing of John Dallat|first=Marie Louise|last=McConville|date=18 May 2020|website=The Irish News}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.derryjournal.com/news/derry-deputy-mayor-cara-hunter-selected-sdlp-replace-late-east-derry-mla-john-dallat-2855993|title=Derry Deputy Mayor Cara Hunter selected by SDLP to replace late East Derry MLA John Dallat|website=www.derryjournal.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.derryjournal.com/news/politics/cara-hunter-new-east-derry-sdlp-mla-following-sad-passing-john-dallat-2856149|title=Cara Hunter is new East Derry SDLP MLA following sad passing of John Dallat|website=www.derryjournal.com}} She is the SDLP's mental health spokesperson.{{Cite web|url=http://www.sdlp.ie/news/2020/hunter-welcomes-executive-task-force-on-mental-health/|title=Hunter welcomes Executive task force on mental health | 2020 | News|website=SDLP}}
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.{{Cite news |last=Morris |first=Allison |date=9 May 2022 |title=Cara Hunter MLA: Stress of fake clip made my life absolutely horrific in election run-up |language=en-GB |work=Belfast Telegraph |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/cara-hunter-mla-stress-of-fake-clip-made-my-life-absolutely-horrific-in-election-run-up-41629366.html |access-date=2022-05-19 |issn=0307-1235}} She described them as an "intimidation tactic" to make her feel embarrassed and humiliated.{{Cite web |date=2022-05-15 |title='Cruel and malicious': sexist attacks dampen joy for Stormont's new female members |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/may/15/cruel-and-malicious-sexist-attacks-dampen-joy-for-stormonts-new-female-members |access-date=2022-05-19 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}
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%.{{cite news|title = East Londonderry - General election results 2024 - BBC News|url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2024/uk/constituencies/N05000006|work = BBC News|access-date = 2 November 2024}}{{cite news|title = East Londonderry results - General Election 2024|url = https://elections.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/general-election-2024/east-londonderry|work = Belfast Telegraph|access-date = 2 November 2024}}
Personal life
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".{{Cite news|title=SDLP MLA Cara Hunter: I found out I had a brain tumour on my first day at Stormont|language=en-GB|work=belfasttelegraph|url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/sdlp-mla-cara-hunter-i-found-out-i-had-a-brain-tumour-on-my-first-day-at-stormont-40921030.html|access-date=2021-10-06|issn=0307-1235}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- {{Twitter|CaraHunterSDLP}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-civic}}
{{s-bef|before=John Dallat}}
{{s-ttl|title=MLA for East Londonderry|years=18 May 2020–present}}
{{s-inc}}
{{s-end}}
{{Social Democratic and Labour Party}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Cara}}
Category:Social Democratic and Labour Party MLAs
Category:Northern Ireland MLAs 2017–2022
Category:Politicians from County Londonderry
Category:Members of Derry City and Strabane District Council
Category:Social Democratic and Labour Party councillors
Category:California State University, Northridge alumni
Category:Alumni of Liverpool John Moores University
Category:Women councillors in Northern Ireland