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06 Sept 2025
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06 Sept 2025
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A selection of the candidates for East Derry.
Claire Sugden (Independent)
Independent MLA Claire Sugden polled in third place in the 2017 Assembly Election, where she pulled in 4,918 first preference votes, a further increase on the 3,270 polled the previous year.
On that occasion the Coleraine woman relied on transfers, but her stint as Justice Minister won her admirers, and in 2017, those transfers saw her become the first member elected in the constituency.
In June last year, she turned down a move to the UUP, having received an offer from leader Doug Beattie, saying she had 'built up a strong profile as an independent MLA'.
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