in 2023 Kearns was selected as the Conservative candidate for
Rutland and Melton on 8 November 2019. It is a notionally
safe Conservative seat, having been represented by a member of the party since the constituency's creation in 1983. She was elected at the
2019 general election with a majority of 26,924 and 62.6% of the vote. 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. 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." , 7 February 2024 Kearns was a member of the
Foreign Affairs Select Committee from March 2020 until May 2024. She is also on the steering committee of the China Research Group. On 12 October 2022, she was elected as the first female Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, replacing
Tom Tugendhat, and the youngest ever female Chair of any Committee. As a chair of a select committee she was also a member of the
Liaison Committee. 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. NATO's peacekeeping mission in Kosovo,
KFOR, said it had no evidence for the smuggling claims. The British Ambassador to Kosovo, Nicholas Abbott, said the British government had no evidence to support Kearns' allegation. A few months later, on 24 September 2023, Kearns’ concerns were confirmed following the
Banjska attack which saw heavily armed Serbian militia murder a police officer and hide out in a Serbian Orthodox monastery. The terrorist attack mirrored her claims. Kearns ran a successful campaign during the
COVID-19 pandemic to end the lone birth scandal which saw NHS guidance force women to give birth, or labour until the late stages, and undergo miscarriages, without their partners due to efforts to prevent the spread of COVID. 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. In 2023 Kearns, working with local residents, secured a county flag for Leicestershire, the last English county without a registered flag, the
Flag of Leicestershire. Kearns has been a staunch opponent of the Mallard Pass Solar Farm, which straddles Lincolnshire and Rutland, and aims to provide renewable energy to 92,000 homes. 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. In April 2024, one of Kearns' former parliamentary aides, Christopher Cash, and his associate Christopher Berry were charged under the
Official Secrets Act 1911 for allegedly spying for China, through their access to parliamentary information. In September 2025 the charges were dropped less than a month before the trial was due to start, because the "evidential standard" was not met. Kearns would have been a key witness at the trial. 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". In February 2025, following
U.S. President Donald Trump's criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his U.S. visit, Kearns demanded that Prime Minister
Keir Starmer cancel Trump's upcoming
state visit to the United Kingdom. == Personal life ==