Alicia Kearns | |
---|---|
Shadow Minister for Home Affairs | |
Assumed office November 2024 | |
Leader | Kemi Badenoch |
Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs | |
In office 19 July 2024 –2 November 2024 | |
Leader | Rishi Sunak |
Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee | |
In office 12 October 2022 –30 May 2024 | |
Preceded by | Tom Tugendhat |
Succeeded by | Emily Thornberry |
Member of Parliament for Rutland and Stamford Rutland and Melton (2019–2024) | |
Assumed office 12 December 2019 | |
Preceded by | Alan Duncan |
Majority | 10,394 (21.4%) |
Personal details | |
Born | Alicia Alexandra Martha Kearns 11 November 1987 England |
Political party | Conservative |
Children | 2 |
Education | Fitzwilliam College,Cambridge (BA) |
Website | Official website |
Alicia Alexandra Martha Kearns [1] (born 11 November 1987) [2] is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rutland and Stamford,previously Rutland and Melton,since 2019 and Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs since July 2024. [3] She identifies ideologically as a one-nation conservative. [4]
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.
Alicia Kearns was born on 11 November 1987 and grew up in Cambridgeshire,where she attended a comprehensive school,Impington Village College. [5] During her teenage years,she was a member of the UK Youth Parliament and an activist for Amnesty International. [6] She studied social and political sciences at Fitzwilliam College,Cambridge,graduating in 2009. [5] During university,she participated in student theatre productions. [7]
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. [8] 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. [9] 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. [8] [10] She later became an independent consultant. [11] 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". [12]
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. [9]
Kearns stood for election at the 2017 general election in the safe Labour seat of Mitcham and Morden. She came second behind the incumbent Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh with 24.2% of the vote. [13] [14] [15]
Kearns was also in the final shortlist in the same election for the safe Conservative seat of Chelmsford but lost the selection to then-MEP Vicky Ford. [16]
Kearns was selected as the Conservative candidate for Rutland and Melton on 8 November 2019. [17] It is a notionally safe Conservative seat,having been represented by a member of the party since the constituency's creation in 1983. [18] She was elected at the 2019 general election with a majority of 26,924 and 62.6% of the vote. [19]
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. [20] [21]
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. [22] [23] 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." [24]
Kearns has been a member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee since March 2020. [25] She is also on the steering committee of the China Research Group. [26] On 12 October 2022,she was elected as the first female Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee,replacing Tom Tugendhat. [27] As a chair of a select committee she is also a member of the Liaison Committee. [28]
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. [29] NATO's peacekeeping mission in Kosovo,KFOR,said it has no evidence for the smuggling claims. [30] The British Ambassador to Kosovo,Nicholas Abbott,said the British government had no evidence to support Kearns' allegation. [31]
Due to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies,Kearns' constituency of Rutland and Melton was abolished,and replaced with Rutland and Stamford. At the 2024 general election,Kearns was elected to Parliament as MP for Rutland and Stamford with 43.7% of the vote and a majority of 10,394. [32]
Kearns has been a staunch opponent of the 4.2 mile (6.76km) Mallard Pass Solar Farm,which straddles Lincolnshire and Rutland,and aims to provide renewable energy to 92,000 homes. [33] [34]
In July 2024,Kearns was one of five politicians to cover for James O'Brien's radio show on LBC,as part of the station's "Guest Week". [35]
Kearns lives in the village of Langham in Rutland with her husband. The couple have a son and a daughter. [5] [36] [37]
Sir Alan James Carter Duncan is a British former politician who served as Minister of State for International Development from 2010 to 2014 and Minister of State for Europe and the Americas from 2016 to 2019. A member of the Conservative Party,he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rutland and Melton from 1992 to 2019.
Alistair James Hendrie Burt is a Conservative British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Bedfordshire from 2001 until 2019. He was previously MP for his native Bury North in Greater Manchester from 1983 until 1997. Burt was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State then Minister of State at the Department of Social Security from 1992 to 1997,and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 2010 to 2013. Burt was also Minister of State at the Department of Health from May 2015 to July 2016.
Mark Christopher Field is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Cities of London and Westminster from 2001 to 2019. A member of the Conservative Party,he served as a Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 2017 to 2019. A prominent supporter of the United Kingdom remaining in the European Union during the Brexit referendum and of Jeremy Hunt in the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election,he left his post as a Foreign Office Minister when Boris Johnson's premiership began. He stood down from the British House of Commons at the 2019 general election.
Robert John Blackman MP is a British politician who has been the chairman of the 1922 Committee and chair of the Backbench Business Committee since 2024. A member of the Conservative Party,he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Harrow East since 2010. He served as the Joint Executive Secretary of the backbench 1922 Committee from 2012 to 2024. Blackman was the Member of the London Assembly (MLA) for Brent and Harrow between 2004 and 2008.
Rutland and Melton was a county constituency spanning Leicestershire and Rutland,represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 to 2024. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election. For its entire existence,the seat elected members of the Conservative Party.
Lieutenant Colonel Tobias Martin Ellwood is a former British Conservative Party politician and soldier who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bournemouth East from 2005 to 2024. He chaired the Defence Select Committee from 2020 to 2023,and was Minister for Defence Veterans,Reserves and Personnel at the Ministry of Defence from 2017 to 2019. Prior to his political career,Ellwood served in the Royal Green Jackets and reached the rank of captain. He transferred to the Army Reserve and has gone on to reach the rank of lieutenant colonel in the 77th Brigade.
Jessica Elizabeth Morden is a British politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Newport East since 2005. A member of the Labour Party,she was General Secretary of Welsh Labour from 1999 until her election to Parliament.
Rutland and Stamford is a county constituency comprising the area of Lincolnshire centred on the town of Stamford;the county of Rutland;and also parts of rural Leicestershire,making it a very unusual parliamentary constituency in that it spans three counties. It returns one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom,using the first-past-the-post voting system.
Stamford was a constituency in the county of Lincolnshire of the House of Commons for the Parliament of England to 1706 then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918. It was represented by two Members of Parliament until 1868 when this was reduced to one.
Rutland is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Leicestershire to the north and west,Lincolnshire to the north-east,and Northamptonshire to the south-west. Oakham is the largest town and county town.
Lucy Elizabeth Allan is a British politician who served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Telford from the 2015 general election,until standing down at the 2024 general election. Before being elected as an MP for the Conservative Party,she was a member of Wandsworth London Borough Council from 2006 to 2012.
Thomas Georg John Tugendhat is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tonbridge,previously Tonbridge and Malling,since 2015. A member of the Conservative Party,he has been the Shadow Minister for Security since 2024. He previously served in the Cabinet as Minister of State for Security from September 2022 to July 2024.
Alun Craig Williams is a British politician who was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister from October 2022 until June 2024. A member of the Conservative Party,he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Cardiff North from 2015 to 2017,when he was defeated for reelection by the Labour Party's Anna McMorrin. In 2019,Williams was elected as the MP for Montgomeryshire,but lost the seat in the 2024 general election.
Julian Knight is a British politician,author and former journalist who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Solihull from 2015 to 2024. He is a member of the Conservative Party,but sat as an independent from December 2022 for the rest of the term.
Joyce Rebekah "Joy" Morrissey is an American-born British Conservative Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Beaconsfield since 2019. She was a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury from November 2023 until July 2024. She has been Opposition Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Commons since November 2024,serving alongside Gagan Mohindra.
Gareth Mark Davies is a British politician who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Grantham and Bourne. He was previously the MP for Grantham and Stamford from the 2019 general election until the seat's abolition in 2024. A member of the Conservative Party,he served as the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury from April 2023 to July 2024. He has been the Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury since November 2024.
Neil Peter Hammerton HudsonFRCVS is a British Conservative Party politician,academic,and veterinary surgeon who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Epping Forest since 2024,and previously for Penrith and The Border from 2019 to 2024. He served on the Environment,Food and Rural Affairs Committee for four years,beginning in 2020. He is the first vet elected to the House of Commons since 1884.
Nicola Faye Richards is a British politician. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for West Bromwich East from 2019 to 2024. She is a member of the Conservative Party. Prior to her parliamentary career,Richards was a councillor. Her constituency was abolished at the 2024 general election.
Paul John Holmes is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hamble Valley since 2024. He was the Member of Parliament for Eastleigh from 2019 to 2024. Holmes currently serves as Shadow Minister for Housing,Communities and Local Government having been appointed by Kemi Badenoch.