Prime minister Rishi Sunak has fired the starting gun for the general election race – with candidates set to go to the polls on 4 July 2024.

There's been a boundary change in the Rutland area, with a new seat in the Commons for Rutland and Stamford rather than Rutland and Melton.

Search and view the new constituency boundaries here.

The full list of candidates who have so far been announced are:

• James Moore (Lib Dem)
• Christopher Clowes (Reform)
• Emma Louise Baker (Green)
• Alicia Kearns (Conservative - currently holds the Rutland and Melton seat)
• Joe Wood (Labour)
• Joanna Mary Burrows (Rejoin EU)

And at Oakham Nub News, we will be introducing you to the candidates ahead of the elections.

We have already chatted to the Green Candidate, Emma Louise Baker.

Now, we have spoken with Alicia Kearns, who has been the Rutland and Melton MP since 2019.

She said: "For just over four years I’ve had the privilege of serving Rutland as our MP. I take seriously my duty to what is best for our communities and have fought relentlessly for Rutland every single day to achieve meaningful change, locally and nationally.

"In that time, I have helped almost 13,000 residents with serious personal issues they have faced, whether it be with their pensions, healthcare, criminal justice issues, and more. I have always moved heaven and earth to help those who find themselves in their darkest moments to get the support they deserve. I’ve also secured national policy changes such as the right to visit a loved one in hospital or a care home, increased fines for fly tipping, a ban on hare coursing, a new service to reduce stillbirths, and a fund for businesses who don’t pay business rates to receive support during the pandemic. 

"As your Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Rutland and Stamford, I will fight for our rural communities and our rural way of life, and I hope that my record speaks for itself."

She continued to share "progress on commitments I made to Rutland in 2019:

• In November 2021, I successfully campaigned to save Rutland Memorial Hospital, securing a commitment from Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Clinical Commissioning Group to protect our hospital and there was then a £1.5 million investment to upgrade the facilities.
• After months of lobbying, I secured national change so that patient data can be more easily shared across Integrated Care Boards (then CCGs). Previously bureaucratic boundaries prevented data from being shared between CCGs, restricting patient choice and access to the care we deserve.
• I was relieved to secure £1.8 million in Government funding to support the safe rollout of new technology designed to reduce stillbirths and premature births to be trialed in the NHS. I am also pushing for local hospitals to be included in the trial for the App.
• I campaigned for, and secured, a new law which will ensure our loved ones in care homes and hospitals will be able to have visitors in all circumstances. 
• During the pandemic hospitals forced women to give birth alone, without a partner or a loved one present. I fought until every single hospital ended this dangerous and medically illogical cruelty."

She shared her commitment to: "Levelling Up and Ending Rural Disadvantage:

• A year ago. I worked with our Councils to bring £23.7 million in Levelling Up Funding to our communities across Rutland and Melton – a truly transformative amount of money which is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. For Rutland this funding includes:

1. £6.5 million for a demand responsive transport bus system between key rural villages between our towns.
2. £3.5 million for a national Medi-Tech Innovation Hub, bringing more clinicians to our communities and giving us first access to the new medical technologies of the future.
3. £2 million for Rutland County Museum to revamp our tourism offer in Rutland.

• I've been working hard to secure a fairer funding deal for our Councils, and after many hours of lobbying, Rutland County Council will receive a 7.7% funding uplift as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement, a real terms increase and above the national average. This comes on top of the £1 million Rutland received from the Rural England Prosperity fund, as campaigned for by me, and £400,000 from the Rural Prosperity Fund.
• After raising Barrowden Village Hall’s Community Ownership Funding bid with the Government, we secured £300,000 in Government funding to transform the 96-year old Village Hall. This is one of 5 out 5 successful Community Ownership Funding bids I have supported in our communities.
• For our schools, I was pleased to help secure Casterton College a share of £1.8 billion from the School Rebuilding Programme to give this school the facilities they deserve. Ten Rutland schools have also received funds to improve their buildings or in recognition of their rurality. We’ve just had the good news that Uppingham Community College and Langham Church of England Primary School will receive significant funds to improve the condition of their school buildings.
• To improve our rural connectivity, I secured a place for 12,000 homes in Oakham and surrounding areas in the first phase of the Government’s £5 billion investment in Gigabit, full-fibre broadband for hard-to-reach rural areas."

She shared her work "Investing in our Roads and Local Transport Infrastructure:

• As Chair of the A1 MPs working group, I was pleased last year to secure safety upgrades at 5 points along the A1 from the Tinwell Junction to the Colsterworth Interchange following a debate I organised in Parliament. Over the next decades we will need many more improvements, but this was an important start.
• I have regularly met with Highways England to raise residents’ concerns, for example on traffic diversions from the A1 through Greetham.
• Over the next 10 years, Rutland will receive £17,696,000 in Government highway maintenance funding for resurfacing roads and filling potholes.
• Rutland County Council will receive £253,280 for 2023/4 as part of the Government’s Bus Service Improvement Plan funding to improve bus services, lower bus fares and prevent cuts to local routes.
• I fought to ensure Oakham’s manned ticket office remained open, and after writing to the Managing Director of East Midlands to highlight our concerns, and working alongside many colleagues, I was relieved the train operators withdrew their proposals to shut manned ticket offices. I am also working to secure a ticket machine for Oakham train station."

She added that she has been "Standing up for our farmers:

• As Deputy and then Chair of the Dairy All Party Parliamentary Group in Parliament, I successfully secured a Hardship Fund for dairy farmers during the pandemic. This Fund saw dairy farmers who lost more than 25% of their income receive up to £10,000 for April and May 2020.
• I secured, as promised, a ban on hare coursing. 
• During the recent sugar beet negotiations, I stood up for our farmers and met with British Sugar and the NFU to make clear to the Government that the pricings on the table were unacceptable. I’m relieved a contract has now been agreed.
• I have relentlessly campaigned to save our agricultural land and take a stand against the proposed 2,105 acre Mallard Pass Solar Plant. Working with affected communities, we have secured over 3,000 petition signatures, raised concerns with Ministers, held public meetings, secured the support of human rights organisations, exposed Canadian Solar’s links to forced slave labour, Windell Energy’s financial dealings, and their shared consultation failings.
• I have consistently campaigned for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to introduce a Gas-Fertiliser Index to help farmers better prepare for market volatility and have greater certainty. It is not unreasonable for farmers to expect greater transparency with fertiliser.
• I have long-campaigned for the urgent introduction of a livestock worrying law to put an end to this distressing offence, and I am relieved that working with Therese Coffey, 10 of us have brought forward a Livestock Protection Bill to make provisions for changing the law about livestock worrying. This is in addition to the offence on hare coursing I helped put into law two years ago.
• I secured the only debate in Parliament on how to support farmers through increased cost of living, requesting additional support to help our farmers during challenging economic circumstances.
• Since April 2023 alone, Rutland and Melton’s farmers have received over £16 million in Government support."

She said that she is "Tough on Crime to Protect our Communities:

• After successfully campaigning for a Rural Crime Team to cover Rutland and Leicestershire, I secured the equipment and facilities our wonderful team needed. The team expanded from three to eight offers and I secured new 4x4 vehicles to assist on their daily duties.
• We also have a new walk-in police front desk in Oakham and a new Police Beat Office in Uppingham, ensuring Rutlanders have a direct point of contact where they can raise any concerns or priorities.
• Rutlanders asked me to increase the cost to those who fly-tip, and after meeting with Ministers regularly to ask for this, I’m pleased I significantly increased fines nationally for fly-tipping to tackle this heinous offence."

 Alicia Kearns concluded: "Last year I was honoured to be chosen by our local Conservatives to be our candidate at the upcoming election. Just as I have since I was elected, I’ve been out on the doorsteps listening to communities and learning about the priorities of everyone in Stamford and the Stamford villages.

"I am now working on my manifesto commitments which will focus on how to make our communities even better places to live including further improvements to the A1, tackling flood resilience and response, improving funding to our Councils, supporting our farmers, and improving access to local services.

"As your Conservative candidate, our communities will always come first."