Claire Sugden is an Independent MLA representing East Londonderry. Claire has been the only elected Independent in the NI Assembly in recent mandates. If elected in 2022, she becomes the longest serving Independent in NI history. In 2016, Claire was appointed NI Minister of Justice at aged 29 making her one of the youngest government ministers in the world, and the first female to perform the role in Northern Ireland.
As well as elected office, Claire volunteers for various community organisations. She sits on the boards of a community development organisation, an integrated primary school, a community theatre company, a mental health social enterprise and is patron of a charity which supports adults with learning disabilities.
Claire is a graduate of Queen’s University Belfast where she studied for a BA in Politics, a MA in Irish Politics and is currently completing a Master of Science in Political Lobbying and Public Affairs at Ulster University. Claire is an alumnus of the Washington Ireland Program when she worked within the US government in the Department of Health and Human Services in 2010. She managed the Program in 2012.