Alicia Kearns
MP
Official portrait, 2020
Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee
Assumed office
12 October 2022
Preceded byTom Tugendhat
Member of Parliament
for Rutland and Melton
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded bySir Alan Duncan
Majority26,924 (46.2%)
Personal details
Born
Alicia Alexandra Martha Kearns

(1987-11-11) 11 November 1987
England
Political partyConservative
Children2
Residence(s)Langham, Rutland, England
EducationImpington Village College
Alma materFitzwilliam College, Cambridge
Websitealiciakearns.com

Alicia Alexandra Martha Kearns[1] (born 11 November 1987)[2] is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rutland and Melton since the 2019 general election. She is a member of the Conservative Party and identifies ideologically as a one-nation conservative.[3]

In October 2022, Kearns was elected Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee. She is the first woman to ever be elected to the role, and the youngest ever female Chair of a Select Committee.

Early life and career

Kearns grew up in Cambridgeshire, and attended a comprehensive school, Impington Village College.[4] During her teenage years, she was a member of the UK Youth Parliament and an activist for Amnesty International.[5] She studied social and political sciences at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, graduating in 2009.[4] During university, she participated in student theatre productions.[6]

Kearns has worked in communication roles at the Ministry of Defence (MOD), Ministry of Justice (MoJ), and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). She was the lead press officer for the MOD's contribution to the 2014 Scottish independence referendum campaign. She led the government's communication campaigns in Syria and Iraq for the FCO.[7] At the FCO she was responsible for advising governments on strategies to defeat Daesh (ISIS), insurgent groups, and to counter Russian disinformation in Syria. She attended the UN-led peace talks on Syria and was deployed in Iraq, Kuwait and Ukraine.[8] At the MoJ, she worked as the Victims' Minister's press secretary. Kearns became the client services director for the strategic communications consultancy Global Influence in 2016.[7][9] She later became an independent consultant.[10] Her private sector duties involved designing and directing "counter violent extremism, counter disinformation, hybrid warfare and behaviour change programmes for Governments, militaries, and NGOs to build stronger and safer communities".[11]

Immediately prior to her election to parliament, Kearns was directing counter-terrorism, counter disinformation and hybrid warfare interventions in Lebanon, Morocco and the Western Balkans.[8]

Parliamentary career

Kearns was selected as the Conservative candidate for Rutland and Melton on 8 November 2019.[12] It is a notionally safe Conservative seat, having been represented by a member of the party since the constituency's creation in 1983.[13] She had previously stood in the 2017 general election in the safe Labour seat Mitcham and Morden and was also in the final shortlist in the same election for the safe Conservative seat Chelmsford but lost the selection to then-MEP Vicky Ford.[4][14] She was elected in the 2019 general election with a majority of 26,924 votes.[15]

Kearns is a supporter of transgender rights and in August 2020 co-authored an article in ConservativeHome with fellow MP Nicola Richards which called on the government to reform the Gender Recognition Act 2004.[16][17]

Some newspapers and broadcasters alleged that Kearns was part of an attempt by Conservative MPs elected in the 2019 general election to oust then Prime Minister Boris Johnson over Partygate in January 2022.[18][19] She said that she met with concerned MPs, but denied leading a rebellion against Johnson, stating that "I make no apology for meeting with my colleagues, but it was not a coup or any such activity despite the mischief of the media or certain actors who might wish to suggest otherwise."[20]

Kearns has been a member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee since March 2020.[21] She is also on the steering committee of the China Research Group.[22] On 12 October 2022, she was elected as the first female Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, replacing Tom Tugendhat.[23] As a chair of a select committee she is also a member of the Liaison Committee.[24]

In July 2023, Kearns claimed in parliament that weapons were being smuggled from Serbia to Kosovo in ambulances and then being stored in Serbian Orthodox Churches.[25] NATO’s peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, KFOR, said it has no evidence for the smuggling claims.[26] The British Ambassador to Kosovo, Nicholas Abbott, said the British government had no evidence to support Kearns' allegation.[27]

Personal life

Kearns lives in the village of Langham in Rutland with her husband. The couple have a son and a daughter.[4][28][29]

References

  1. ↑ "Members Sworn". parliament.uk. 18 December 2019. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  2. ↑ Brunskill, Ian (19 March 2020). The Times guide to the House of Commons 2019 : the definitive record of Britain's historic 2019 General Election. HarperCollins Publishers Limited. p. 318. ISBN 978-0-00-839258-1. OCLC 1129682574.
  3. ↑ Kearns, Alicia. ""Happily cracking on being a One Nation Conservative, and I agree on foreign policy, I do know my stuff"". X. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Tories and Labour chose contenders to be next Melton MP". Melton Times. 9 November 2019. Archived from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  5. ↑ "Here's looking at you, kids". The Guardian. 27 November 2004. Archived from the original on 26 February 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  6. ↑ "Alicia Kearns". Camdram. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  7. 1 2 "FCO's Alicia Kearns joins Global Influence". Gorkana. 24 August 2016. Archived from the original on 3 December 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  8. 1 2 Coupe, Kerry (8 November 2019). "Counter terrorism expert selected as Conservative Party's candidate for Rutland and Melton in a bid to succeed Sir Alan Duncan". Stamford Mercury. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  9. ↑ "Alicia Kearns". DefenceIQ. 2 March 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  10. ↑ Bjola, Corneliu; Pamment, James (7 December 2018). Countering Online Propaganda and Extremism: The Dark Side of Digital Diplomacy. Taylor & Francis. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-351-26406-8.
  11. ↑ Ramsay, Adam; Molloy, Caroline; Cave, Tamasin (21 December 2019). "Revealed: A fifth of new Tory MPs have worked as lobbyists". openDemocracy. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  12. ↑ "Counter terrorism expert Alicia Kearns selected as Conservative Party's prospective parliamentary candidate for Rutland and Melton in a bid to succeed Sir Alan Duncan – Andy Thomas selected for Labour". Rutland and Stamford Mercury. 8 November 2019. Archived from the original on 12 December 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  13. ↑ "Rutland and Melton". UK Polling Report. Archived from the original on 30 June 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  14. ↑ "Lee Scott back for Ilford North. Vicky Ford in final Chelmsford three. Tatton finalists named. The latest candidate selections and shortlists". Conservative Home. 24 April 2017.
  15. ↑ "Rutland and Melton". BBC News. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  16. ↑ Richards, Nicola; Kearns, Alicia (27 August 2020). "Conservatives believe in freedom and choice. That's why we should reform the Gender Recognition Act". Conservative Home. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  17. ↑ Maguire, Patrick (28 August 2020). "New Tory MPs demand reform to Gender Recognition Act". The Times.(subscription required)
  18. ↑ Kuenssberg, Laura (18 January 2022). "Downing Street party: Is 'pork pie plot' a serious threat to the PM?". BBC News.
  19. ↑ "How Melton Mowbray entered the spotlight in 'pork pie plot' amid calls for Boris Johnson to resign". ITV News. 19 January 2022.
  20. ↑ Rennie, Nick (26 January 2022). "Melton MP breaks her silence over so-called 'Pork Pie Plot' against Boris Johnson". Melton Times. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  21. ↑ "Foreign Affairs Committee Committee membership agreed". parliament.uk. 2 March 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  22. ↑ Payne, Sebastian (25 April 2020). "Senior Tories launch ERG-style group to shape policy on China". Financial Times. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  23. ↑ "Alicia Kearns elected as chair of Foreign Affairs Committee". BBC News. 12 October 2022.
  24. ↑ "Parliamentary career for Alicia Kearns". UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  25. ↑ Santolo, Alessandra Scotto di (10 July 2023). "Tory MP targeted by Serbia over smuggling claims as tensions with Kosovo rise". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  26. ↑ "KFOR Denies Weapons are Smuggled in Ambulances Into North Kosovo". Balkan Insight. 5 July 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  27. ↑ "A lot of what I've seen in the north reminds me of Northern Ireland, that's why the dialogue is important". KoSSev. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  28. ↑ Rennie, Nick. "'My silent victories will define me' – Melton MP makes maiden parlimentary speech". Melton Times. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  29. ↑ Howie, Michael (29 December 2021). "Tory MP Alicia Kearns says babies have 'no place' in the Commons chamber". Evening Standard. London. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
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