Cara Laura Hilton (born 1975) is a

Scottish Labour Scottish Labour (), is the part of the UK Labour Party (UK), Labour Party active in Scotland. Ideologically social democratic and Unionism in the United Kingdom, unionist, it holds 23 of 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 37 of 57 Sco ...

politician, who was the

Member of the Scottish Parliament Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; ; ) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The additional member system produces a form of proportional representation, where ...

(MSP) for

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...

from 2013 to 2016. She has served as a councillor for Dunfermline South since

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

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. Walke ...

'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 ( ; 31 December 1954 – 12 October 2024) was a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure in the Scottish nationalist movement, he was Leader of the Sc ...

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 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 Social Justice in the devolved Scottish government since 2023. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she has been the Membe ...

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

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath () 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 1890. According to a 20 ...

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 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

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

References

External links

* * * {{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