| Cara Hunter | |
| Honorific-Suffix: | MLA |
| Office: | Member of the Legislative Assembly for East Londonderry |
| Assembly: | Northern Ireland |
| Predecessor: | John Dallat |
| Term Start: | 18 May 2020 |
| Office2: | Member of Derry City and Strabane District Council |
| Constituency2: | Derg |
| Predecessor2: | Maolíosa McHugh |
| Successor2: | Steven Edwards |
| Term Start2: | 2 May 2019 |
| Term End2: | 18 May 2020 |
| Birth Date: | 8 November 1995 |
| Birth Place: | Northern Ireland |
| Nationality: | Irish |
| Party: | Social Democratic and Labour Party |
| Occupation: | Communications/PR |
| Website: | https://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]
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.
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]