Australian politician
Lucy Penelope Hood (born 17 August 1985)[2] is an Australian politician, journalist and former political adviser. She has been a Labor member of the South Australian House of Assembly since the 2022 state election, representing Adelaide. With a swing of 7.1 per cent, she defeated the incumbent Liberal Party member, Rachel Sanderson, who had held the seat since 2010. Prior to the election, the ABC election analyst Antony Green stated that results in Adelaide have tracked closely with the seat being won by the party that won the state-wide two-party-preferred vote (2PP) at every election since 1985.
Personal life and career
Hood grew up in Naracoorte, South Australia and attended Naracoorte Primary School and Naracoorte High School. She has a Bachelor of Arts (Journalism) from the University of South Australia. She also has completed a Certificate IV in Celebrancy, and is an authorised marriage celebrant. She has previously worked in hospitality, as a lifeguard and swimming instructor, and as a journalist for The Advertiser newspaper.
Hood is married to Jarrad Pilkington, a former media adviser to premier of South Australia, Jay Weatherill, and they have two children. Her brother, Ben Hood, stood as Liberal candidate for the seat of Mount Gambier at the 2022 state election, and in February 2023 he was accepted to fill a vacant Liberal seat in the Legislative Council.
Political career
Hood worked as a media and then policy advisor, and was a senior adviser to Weatherill for two years prior to the defeat of the Labor Party in the 2018 state election. She then worked as political adviser to the then leader of the opposition, Peter Malinauskas, and immediately prior to running as the Labor candidate for Adelaide in the 2022 state election, Hood was Malinauskas' director of policy.
In the 2022 state election held on 19 March 2022, Hood received 56.2 per cent of the two-party-preferred vote (2PP) from 40.6 per cent of the first-preference votes, achieving a swing of 7.1 per cent and defeating the Liberal minister for Child Protection, Rachel Sanderson, who had held the seat since 2010. She was supported in her campaign by the mentorship of the Victorian Minister for Agriculture, Mary-Anne Thomas, through Emily's List Australia. Prior to the election, the ABC election analyst Antony Green stated that results in Adelaide have tracked closely with the seat being won by the party that won the state-wide 2PP at every election since 1985. Hood has been a member of the parliamentary economic and finance and publishing committees since 3 May 2022, and was a member of the Establishment of Adelaide University Committee from 6 July to 17 November 2023.
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