Alicia Kearns elected as chair of Foreign Affairs Committee

Alicia Kearns was elected to Parliament in 2019 as Conservative MP for Rutland and Melton

MPs have chosen Conservative Alicia Kearns as the new chair of the influential Foreign Affairs Committee - the first woman to hold the post.

This is the second time in a row that an up and coming, but relatively junior MP has seized the chair of the committee, one of the most prestigious berths on the Commons committee corridor.

Back in 2017, it was Tom Tugendhat, with just two years in Parliament under his belt, who ousted ex-minister Crispin Blunt. Five years on, he was a candidate for the Conservative leadership and is now security minister, attending the cabinet.

The new incumbent has a background in crisis communications working in several government departments - and her victory over a field including former party leader Sir Ian Duncan Smith, former Defence Secretary Liam Fox and senior backbencher Richard Graham might be seen as a remarkable upset.

The chair of Foreign Affairs was reserved for a Conservative MP under a deal dividing up which party chairs which committee. But all MPs could vote, and with four Tories vying for the post, the winner is always the candidate capable of attracting the most supporters from Labour, the SNP and the other parties.

So while her alleged role in the "pork pie plot" against Boris Johnson might have lost her votes on here own side, it might have attracted non-Tory MPs to her banner.

With the war in Ukraine and other ominous events across the globe, her victory gives Ms Kearns a prominent role when MPs consider events abroad - the chair of the select committee is always called early to speak in the Chamber. So her views will be heard. Often.