13 February 2023

“Too many people are only here for the politics”: Alicia Kearns on leading foreign policy from the backbenches

From Brexit to TikTok, the youngest chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee is making sure her voice is heard.

Parliament is buzzing when I turn up to interview Alicia Kearns. It has just been confirmed that Volodymyr Zelensky will be addressing MPs and peers in Westminster Hall later that afternoon, only the second time he has been overseas since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“I’m really pleased that he’s chosen the UK as his second visit,” Kearns says before we’ve even sat down. She’s wearing a badge of the entwined flags of Britain and Ukraine, and there’s another Ukrainian flag hanging up on the wall. “I think that sends a really strong message in terms of UK support and how fundamental the UK has been.”