Judith Cochrane Politician

Judith Cochrane is an Alliance Party politician in Northern Ireland who was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly for the East Belfast constituency in 2011.Cochrane is a lifelong resident of East Belfast, having been born and raised in Bloomfield and educated at Strandtown Primary School and Methodist College Belfast. After earning her Bachelor's in Nutrition at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, she returned to Belfast to complete her Master's in Business Administration at Queen's University Belfast. Cochrane and her family still reside in the East and actively attend Bloomfield Presbyterian Church.Prior to her election as MLA, Cochrane served as a Councillor on Castlereagh Borough Council between 2005 and 2011 and worked in the Department for Social Development and as a Management Consultant for SMEs in Northern Ireland.Cochrane currently sits on the Finance and Personnel Committee and is a member of the Assembly Commission. She founded the All Party Group on SMEs and is a member of the All Party Group on Cancer, the All Party Group on Tourism, and has recently co-founded the All Party Group on Rugby, serving as its vice chair. She is also the present Chairperson of the Northern Ireland Assembly and Business Trust.In addition to her duties at Stormont, Cochrane runs her own constituency office on the Upper Newtownards Road in Ballyhackamore. The office provides free services and resources to constituents who need help with housing or benefits, who have health and safety or environmental concerns or who want neighbourhood improvements.