Cara Laura Hilton (born 1975) is a

Scottish Labour Scottish Labour ( gd, Pàrtaidh Làbarach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Labour Pairty; officially the Scottish Labour Party) is a social democratic political party in Scotland. It is an autonomous section of the UK Labour Party. From their peak of ...

politician, who was the

Member of the Scottish Parliament Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; gd, Ball Pàrlamaid na h-Alba, BPA; sco, Memmer o the Scots Pairliament, MSP) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The ad ...

(MSP) for

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...

from 2013 to 2016.

Political career

Hilton was the Labour candidate at the Dunfermline by-election on 20 October 2013. She won by a majority of more than 2,800 votes, overturning a previous SNP majority of 590. This was the first time ever that Labour had won a parliamentary seat (in either the UK or Scottish parliaments) from the SNP at a by-election. In her victory speech, Hilton praised the courage of preceding MSP

Bill Walker Bill Walker may refer to: Australian rules football * Bill A. Walker (1886–1934), Australian rules footballer for Essendon * Bill Walker (Australian footballer, born 1883) (1883–1971), Australian rules footballer for Fitzroy * Bill J. V. Wal ...

's ex-wives. Walker's conviction for assault against his former wives had led to his resignation from parliament, causing the by-election.

Alex Salmond Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond (; born 31 December 1954) is a Scottish politician and economist who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure on the Scottish nationalist movement, he has served as leader ...

accused her of running a dishonest campaign, including the circulation of a leaflet criticised by the SNP as "demonstrably untrue". In the

Scottish Parliament election Scotland has elections to several bodies: the Scottish Parliament, the United Kingdom Parliament, local councils and community councils. Before the United Kingdom left the European Union, Scotland elected members to the European Parliament. ...

of 2016, Hilton lost her seat to the SNP's

Shirley-Anne Somerville Shirley-Anne Somerville (born 2 September 1974) is a Scottish politician who has served as Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills since 2021. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she has been the Member of the Scottish Parliamen ...

, who she had previously defeated at the by-election three years earlier. Along with the loss of the neighbouring

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 18 ...

constituency, this left the Labour Party without parliamentary representation in Fife for the first time since 1910. Hilton was the Labour Party candidate for Dumfermline and West Fife in the

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

and 2019 general elections, but both times came second behind the incumbent SNP MP Douglas Chapman. Hilton served as vice-chair of Scottish Labour from 2019 to 2020, and has served as chair of Scottish Labour since 2020.

Personal life

Hilton is the daughter of former Labour MSP and Scottish Labour chair

Cathy Peattie Cathrine "Cathy" Peattie (born 24 November 1951, Grangemouth, Falkirk) is a Scottish Labour Party politician. She was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Falkirk East constituency from the 1999 Scottish Parliament election unti ...

. Her husband is Simon, and she has three children.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hilton, Cara 1975 births Living people People from Fife Female members of the Scottish Parliament Labour MSPs Members of the Scottish Parliament 2011–2016