Claire Sugden
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Claire Sugden MLA |
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|---|---|
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| Minister of Justice | |
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In office 25 May 2016 – 2 March 2017 |
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| First Minister | Arlene Foster |
| Preceded by | David Ford |
| Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for East Londonderry |
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Assumed office 6 May 2014 |
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| Preceded by | David McClarty |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
7 August 1986 Castlerock, Northern Ireland |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Independent Unionist |
| Relations | Andy Anderson (fiancé) |
| Alma mater | Queen's University Belfast |
Claire Sugden (born 7 August 1986) is a Northern Irish politician who was the Minister of Justice in the fourth Northern Ireland Executive from May 2016 to March 2017. She is also a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for East Londonderry, having been co-opted to the position after the death of David McClarty in 2014, and won election to the seat in 2016. She is an Independent Unionist.
Sugden was born the youngest of five children of Arthur and Elizabeth Sugden. Arthur was born in Leeds and worked as a prison officer, and met Elizabeth in Castlerock. Claire Sugden was raised in the Greenmount area of Coleraine. She attended Killowen primary school and Coleraine High School before studying a bachelor's degree in politics at Queen's University Belfast and graduating in 2008. She also has a master's degree in Irish politics from Queen's University Belfast and was studying part-time for a master's degree in political lobbying from the Ulster University when she was co-opted as an MLA.
After graduating in 2008, Sugden was an intern at the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister. She then interned at the United States Department of Health and Human Services as part of the Washington Ireland Program. In 2008, she began working as a parliamentary assistant for David McClarty, then-UUP MLA for East Londonderry, a role she maintained until her co-option in 2014. In 2011, she managed McClarty's campaign for East Londonderry after he resigned from the Ulster Unionist Party and stood as an independent unionist. She was co-opted as a member of Coleraine Borough Council in 2013 after McClarty resigned his seat on the council. She was nominated to succeed him in in his seat in February 2014 after he fell ill.
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