Kemi Badenoch: Her Past, Her Future And Her Controversial Gaffes

On the 2nd of November Kemi Badenoch was elected leader of the Conservative party with 53,806 votes to Robert Jenrick’s 41,000 ^[1]CNN: Kemi Badenoch wins Conservative leadership contest, pitching party to the right after blowout UK election loss.

It’s important to note that Badenoch received the lowest number of votes of any leadership candidate since the party vote was introduced in the early 2000s.

Yes, even less than Liz Truss.

Prior to 2001, the Conservative Leader was elected purely by the party’s MPs but then-leader William Haigh decided to democratise the process by putting the vote to the membership. Here’s how the recent leaders faired with the party members^[2]Wikipedia: Leader of the Conservative Party:

2001 – Iain Duncan Smith – 155,933 (members turnout % unknown)
2003 – Michael Howard – Unopposed
2005 – David Cameron – 134,446 (78.4% turnout)
2016 – Theresa May – Opponents Withdrew
2019 – Boris Johnson – 92,153 (87.4%)
2022 – Liz Truss – 81,326 (82.2%)
2022 – Rishi Sunak – Unopposed
2024 – Kemi Badenoch – 53,806 (72.8%)

While the decline in membership votes has been steady over the last 23 years, I think that it shows the general sense of apathy Conservative members have when it comes to who is running their party. In this light perhaps the appointment of Britain’s first black party leader^[3]AP: Who is Kemi Badenoch, the first Black woman to lead Britain’s Conservative Party? (and the fourth female leader of the Conservative party) isn’t showing the party moving to a more pro-woman/anti-racist position, it might even be cementing itself firmly in the “sexist racist bigot” category.

But how is that possible after electing the second person of colour to a leadership position? In order to understand that, let’s take a look at who the new Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is.

Controversial Beginnings

Olukemi “Kemi” Adegoke was born in London in 1980, under what some may call “controversial” circumstances.

Badenoch’s parents were both relatively wealthy in their homeland of Nigeria. Badenoch’s father was a GP who owned a hospital (which he later sold to fund a publishing house) and her mother was a professor of physiology^[4]Wikipedia: Kemi Badenoch at universities in Lagos and later the USA.

Badenoch’s mother travelled from Nigeria to London in 1980 where she gave birth to Badenoch in a private hospital – this is despite her husband being a GP and owning a hospital.

While you might argue that she merely wanted access to western healthcare, it’s interesting to note that Badenoch was born in England the year before automatic birthright citizenship was abolished.

Since 1948, if a person was born in the United Kingdom you were automatically granted citizen status^[5]Wikipedia: British Nationality Act 1948, this meant that with Badenoch being born in London she had an automatic right to British citizenship despite growing up in Nigeria.

The British Nationality Act was updated in 1981^[6]Wikipedia: British Nationality Act 1981 which modified the automatic right to British citizenship being granted to anyone born on British soil to having at least one parent be a British citizen or one of its dependent territories.

Therefore, if Badenoch had been born slightly later she would not be classed as British by birth, instead her parents took advantage of the British citizenship system at the time.

It’s interesting to view Badenoch’s opinions on immigration (more on this later) through this lens when she compares the fact she was eligible for a British Passport to finding winning a Golden Ticket like the lead character in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”^[7]The Guardian: From a childhood in Nigeria to Tory leader: the remarkable rise of Kemi Badenoch.

Editor’s Note: I am not suggesting that the Adegokes travelled to the UK as a form of “Birth Tourism^[8]Tourism Teacher: What is birth tourism and is it legal?”. I would note however that it seems odd considering Badenoch’s father was a doctor who ran a hospital he seemed to not trust this hospital enough to handle the birth of his own child and thought that travelling over 4,000 miles was a better option.

Not-So-Humble Upbringing

Badenoch has often made much of her upbringing in Nigeria claiming that even though her family were middle class she grew up with “no running water, electricity and had to take her own chair to school”^[9]Nigerian Tribune: How Kemi Badenoch, 42, grew up ‘with no running water’ in Nigeria to become top contender for British Prime Minister and even had to carry a machete to school^[10]The Standard: Kemi Badenoch: New vice-chairman of the Conservatives talks about her fight to recruit a more diverse range of MPs – although it appears that this was for work purposes cutting grass rather than as a form of protection as some articles have painted it.

But little is made of the fact that this upbringing was not unique to her and that many people in Nigeria were affected by the rampant inflation and corruption that blighted the country through the 1980s and 90s. An acquaintance of Badenoch’s parents says of the family and the period in a 2022 interview with The Times:

“They were upper middle class. The kids must have grown up without lacking anything. That was a given”…
“There were such periods [of poverty] that affected everybody, particularly when the naira started depreciating in the late Eighties.”^[11]The Times: Nigeria roots for Kemi Badenoch’s fighting spirit

The deeply patriarchal society in Nigeria made Badenoch an avid fan of then UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the young Kemi saw her as somewhat of an inspirational heroic figure standing up to, and surpassing, her male colleagues^[12]The Independent: Kemi Badenoch: The battling Boudica who isn’t who you think she is.

Despite her middle class upbringing, Badenoch has claimed that her parents sent her to the UK in 1996 to stay with a family friend with her father’s last £100 in her pocket^[13]The Telegraph: ‘No bulls–t’ and Thatcherite thinking: The unstoppable rise of Kemi Badenoch and that she moved from her upper-middle class Nigerian background to a working class background because she was working in McDonalds in order to feed herself.

Editor’s Note: I feel in the interests of transparency I should tell you that I am considered middle class and I worked in McDonalds while I was at university in order to buy food (okay, let’s face it – it was to buy booze). At no point did I magically feel as though I’d been converted into being working class.

A Move Into Politics

The Adegoke’s had assumed that their daughter would follow in her father’s footsteps into medicine but her A-Level results (a B in biology, a B in chemistry and a D in maths)^[14]The Independent: Kemi Badenoch: The battling Boudica who isn’t who you think she is meant that she was unable to get a place to study medicine and chose a computer science degree instead.

While at university she appeared to hate the liberal attitude and freedom enjoyed by the other students and started to lean heavily into right-wing politics stating her pro-tuition fees views in a letter to the student newspaper. She was called out as hypocritical by other students as Badenoch was at university thanks to a grant that was covering a lot of her costs^[15]The Independent: Kemi Badenoch: The battling Boudica who isn’t who you think she is.

After graduating with a Master of Engineering degree in 2003, Badenoch worked as a software engineer and studied law part-time at the Birkbeck, University of London^[16]Wikipedia: Kemi Badenoch and she graduated with a Bachelor or Law in 2009.

During this period Badenoch moved from IT into finance and worked for as an “associate director” at the private bank Coutts and it was at this point she bought her first flat in Brixton from the local housing association – an interesting fact given the controversy surrounding Labour MP Angela Rayner’s purchase of her council house in 2007^[17]BBC News: A simple guide to the Angela Rayner house row.

It was at this time Badenoch also became interested in politics, joining the Conservative Party in 2005 and then standing as their candidate for Dulwich and West Norwood in the 2010 general election, coming third behind Labour MP Tessa Jowell and the Lib Dem candidate.

Badenoch met her husband-to-be Hamish at a Conservative club in 2009 while campaigning for the Dulwich seat and he soon joined as her campaign manager^[18]Mail Online: Who is Kemi Badenoch’s husband Hamish? Meet the former Conservative councillor as his wife wins race against Robert Jenrick to become new Tory leader and they married in 2012.

After her election loss she moved to The Spectator and became their head of digital operations until she was elected to the London Assembly in 2015^[19]The Huffington Post: Who Is Kemi Badenoch, The First Black Woman To Lead Britain’s Conservative Party? after first standing in 2012 where she where she placed fifth. Here she was the Conservative’s spokesperson on the economy and also sat on the Transport and Policing & Crime committees^[20]London Assembly: Kemi Badenoch (Past staff).

In the 2017 General Election, Badenoch was shortlisted to be the Conservative candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn but was unsuccesful, she was then selected for the safe Conservative seat of Saffron Waldon which she won with a 41% majority^[21]Wikipedia: Kemi Badenoch.

Parliamentary Positions

Badenoch had a very fast-paced rise within the Conservative ranks after being elected. Within a month of her election she was chosen to join the 1922 executive committee, was selected to join the Justice select committee in September 2017 and was then appointed as the Conservative Party Vice Chair for Candidates in January 2018.

In Boris Johnson’s government, Badenoch was appointed first as under-secretary of state for Children and Families, then Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, and then Under-secretary of state (Equalities Minister), being made full Equalities Minister in a reshuffle in September 2021. At this point she was also appointed as the Minister for Levelling Up Communities.

Following Johnson’s mishandling of the Chris Pincher scandal^[22]BBC News: Chris Pincher: How No 10 changed its story on what Boris Johnson knew, Badenoch was among one of 59 MPs who tendered their resignations:

Original Tweet: @KemiBadenoch – 6th July 2022

Past Leadership Bids

After Johnson resigned in 2022 Badenoch launched a campaign to become leader of the Conservatives and therefore Prime Minister. She was knocked out of the running in the fourth round of voting.

With Truss winning the leadership contest in 2022, Badenoch was appointed Secretary of State for International Trade and was retained by Sunak after Truss’s disastrous 45 days as PM.

In a 2023 reshuffle in Sunak’s government, Badenoch was made the head of a newly created department and became Secretary of State for Business and Trade^[23]The i Paper: Kemi Badenoch among winners from Sunak’s first reshuffle – but housing policy faces more chaos which was a significant promotion.

This ultimately put her in a prime place for another leadership bid when Sunak resigned in July 2024 after the Conservatives massive defeat during the General Election^[24]LBC: ‘I’m sorry’: Rishi Sunak apologises to the nation and quits as PM after Tories’ crushing election defeat, paving the way for Badenoch to ultimately seize power of the flailing (and failing) party.

Controversial Comments

Since her move into politics, Badenoch has made multiple controversial comments on a variety of topics – seemingly nothing can be spared from her extremely right-leaning viewpoints.

Anti-Trans comments

Despite being promoted to Equalities minister, this didn’t stop Badenoch being heard on a secret recording going on an anti-trans tirade questioning the validity of same-sex marriage and calling Trans women “men”^[25]Vice: UK Equalities Minister Goes on Anti-LGBTQ Rant in Leaked Audio.

Badenoch went on to question the validity of the Equal Rights act stating that the definitions of sex within the law weren’t correct and sex should mean biological sex at birth, rather than the sex on a gender recognition certification (a hill that Labour have recently climbed on to recently as well^[26]BBC News: PM lacks moral courage on trans stance, says Badenoch).

Badenoch’s views on Trans rights drew the attention of actor David Tennant (a staunch proponent of Trans rights) who said “I don’t wish ill of her, I just wish her to shut up”^[27]The Standard: Doctor Who star David Tennant hit by growing backlash over his Kemi Badenoch ‘wish her to shut up’ jibe which then prompted a response from Badenoch that was tone deaf to say the least:

Original Tweets: @KemiBadenoch 25th June 2024

Maternity Pay

Badenoch’s controversial comments isn’t just limited to the Trans community, she also has an issue with pregnant people claiming maternity pay saying that it should be a personal responsibility for people to fund themselves after pregnancy stating “We need to have more personal responsibility – there was a time when there wasn’t any maternity pay and people were having more babies.^[28]BBC News: Maternity pay has gone too far, suggests Kemi Badenoch”.

She later tried to roll back the comments claiming she actually meant for government to have less involvement in people’s lives generally rather than reducing maternity payment but people weren’t convinced.

For context, Badenoch has 3 children and presumably received maternity pay for all of them^[29]Metro: Inside Kemi Badenoch’s life with husband Hamish after she becomes Tory leader .

Minimum Wage

Despite proudly proclaiming that she was once “working class” because she worked at McDonalds^[30]Sky News: Kemi Badenoch claims she ‘became working class’ after securing a job at McDonald’s as a teenager (a company that usually pays minimum wage) in the same speech where she attacked maternity pay she also claimed that the National Minimum Wage is a burden on business and causes businesses to close^[31]Financial Times: Kemi Badenoch says UK minimum wage is harming businesses.

“Racist” Dog Whistles

Despite her Nigerian heritage, Badenoch has a dim view of other cultures and how they integrate within the UK.

She claimed in a Laura Kuenssberg interview that not all cultures are as valid as others and that she believed in “Western principles” – which include the colonisation of places like Nigeria where the UK set up a colony in 1884^[32]Wikipedia: Colonial Nigeria .

She also doesn’t agree with multiculturalism claiming that diversity causes conflict and that everyone should assimilate with their host nation

While still Equalities minister, Badenoch called the Black Lives Matter movement “political” (which of course it is at they’re combatting systemic racism) but also called them “anti-capitalist” for some reason as well.

If that denial of her own black heritage wasn’t egregious enough she further went on to claim that white privilege doesn’t exist and that if you teach it in schools then you might be breaking the law (you’re not)^[33]Huffington Post: Black Lives Matter Accuses Tory Minister Of ‘Denying Racism’ After Dismissing White Privilege.

She claims the children should not be taught about white history through the lens of colonialism or racism and teachers should stay away from topics such as slavery and systemic racism. During a speech to the Commons (during Black History Month no less) Badenoch stated: “We do not want to see teachers teaching their white pupils about white privilege and inherited racial guilt”^[34]Independent: Teachers presenting white privilege as fact are breaking the law, minister warns.

Because of her seemingly pro-white, anti-black views Badenoch has also been accused of ignoring her Nigerian heritage, something she only seems to bring up as an excuse as to why she can’t possibly be racist:

And in a leaked WhatsApp message (I’m surprised they weren’t deleted à la Johnson and Sunak^[35]The Standard: Ministers warned of accountability risk over missing WhatsApp messages) she said “I don’t care about colonialism”^[36]Vice: ‘I Don’t Care About Colonialism’: Read UK Equalities Minister’s Leaked WhatsApps, again this is despite Nigeria being colonised by the British back in the 1800s!

Commentators have called her “the black face of white supremacy” and a “racial gatekeeper”, highlighting the fact that she’s seen by many to be denouncing her own roots in order to get ahead in politics

Professor Kehinde Andrews, who set up the first Black Studies course in the UK, has called out Badenoch on multiple occasions saying that she is perpetuating a white agenda while actively suppressing a progressive black agenda.

Original Tweet: @kehinde_andrews

He further expands on why the Conservative party seems to have such a diverse cabinet:

Andrews says figures like Badenoch, who was backed by Britain First during her Conservative leadership bid last year, serve a dangerous function; they provide a Black face and a cover for policies which white politicians do not get away with^[37]The Voice: ‘Black face of white supremacy’

You can view an interview with Professor Andrews where he expands on his “Psychosis of Whiteness” here:

Although some writers are saying that commentators  are just upset that a black women is doing well as it’s proving Britain is moving out of its systemic racism phase and that their identity politics are under attack making them irrelevant^[38]Spiked: Why Kemi Badenoch’s rise riles the identitarian left.  However it’s also been pointed out that she’s using her own blackness as a way to show that the Conservative party cannot be racist which is using identity politics^[39]Independent: Why I’m thrilled Kemi Badenoch is the new Tory leader, something that she is apparently against.

Other Controversies

As I was writing this article, I honestly couldn’t keep up with the controversial comments that Badenoch keeps making. It seems every time she appears on TV or at Prime Ministers Questions something else pops out of her mouth so here’s a quick run down of some of the other things she’s said:

• Is a huge Elon Musk fan – I’ll just leave it at that^[40]Huffington Post: Tory Leadership Hopeful Kemi Badenoch Declares She Is A ‘Huge Fan’ Of Elon Musk
• Said that PartyGate was “Overblown”^[41]Sky News: Kemi Badenoch says partygate scandal was ‘overblown’
• Spent her maiden speech at Prime Minister’s Questions misleading the House^[42]The Mirror: Kemi Badenoch launches misleading attack over defence spending in her first PMQs
• Said that autistic people have more “economic advantages and protections”^[43]i Paper: Badenoch pamphlet ‘stigmatises’ autistic people, says top Tory
• Claimed that having millionaires pay the same rate of tax as someone on minimum wage was “a very attractive idea”^[44]The Mirror: Kemi Badenoch under fire after ‘Truss-style’ tax idea – Tories ‘haven’t learnt’
• Wants to leave the European Convention on Human Rights^[45]BBC News: UK may have to leave human rights treaty, says Badenoch despite it being codified into UK law in 1997
• Says that civil servants “should be in prison” if they undermine government ministers^[46]Reuters: Who is Kemi Badenoch, the UK Conservatives’ new leader?
• Made a joke about rape on her Facebook profile^[47]Independent: Kemi Badenoch made ‘rape joke’ on social media in unearthed post
• Admitted to hacking Harriet Harman’s website and defacing it^[48]The Guardian: Bafflement over Tory MP’s admission she hacked Harriet Harman’s website – an offence under the Misuse of Computers act
• Refused to progress anti-conversion therapy legislation claiming that there are already robust laws in place to stop it (there aren’t which is why the new legislation is needed) stating she doesn’t “intend to stop those who wish to seek spiritual counselling as they explore their sexual orientation” which ignores the fact that people are forced by others into conversion therapy rather than seeking it out themselves^[49]BBC News: Equalities minister Kemi Badenoch urged to quit over LGBT+ stance
• Claims that achieving Net Zero by 2050 is impossible “without a serious drop in our living standards or by bankrupting us”^[50]BBC News: Net zero by 2050 ‘impossible’ for UK, says Badenoch
• Has claimed that Young Conservatives get lower marks at university because of their politics^[51]Huffington Post: Kemi Badenoch Claims Young Tories Get Lower Marks At University Because Of Their Politics
• Says that sandwiches are “not real food” and are “just for breakfast” thinks lunch is “for wimps” but she’ll quite happily get a steak delivered to her desk for lunch as well^[52]Huffington Post: Kemi Badenoch Says Sandwiches Are Not A ‘Real Food’ And Only Meant For Breakfast
• She also refuses to touch “moist bread” (whatever that is)^[53]London Economic: Kemi Badenoch’s Spectator interview is just nuts
• Accuses British youth of not being patriotic enough saying “Young people must no longer be taught to dislike our country, our institutions and our history so much that they say they wouldn’t fight for it”^[54]Adam Bienkov: Kemi Badenoch Refuses to Fight for Her Own Country
• Seemingly supported Israel and blamed 2 Labour MPs who were detained and deported after trying to enter Israel saying “Countries should be able to control their borders. What I think is shocking is that we have MPs in Labour who other countries will not allow into, allow through. I think that’s very significant.”^[55]The Mirror: Kemi Badenoch blasted by David Lammy for comment – ‘it’s disgraceful’
• Called out Huffington Post journalist, Nadine White, for querying why Badenoch wasn’t in a video promoting Covid vaccines. White received so much hate she had to private her Twitter account^[56]The Standard: ‘Kemi Badenoch violated me, assaulted the free press and still refuses to apologise’ – Nadine White

Original Thread: @KemiBadenoch – 29th January 2021

• She’s apparently afraid of gender neutral toilets, installing her own gender stickers on toilets at an event she was holding

Original Thread: @camillahmturner – 12th July 2022

I’m sure I’ve missed a few – there are so many that’s it’s difficult to keep up and if I tried then this article would never be finished! If you spot something I’ve missed then please drop it in the comments below.

What Next For Badenoch?

It’s unclear how much longer Badenoch can remain in the role of Conservative leader – a position she has been so desperate to attain since entering politics 20 years ago.

She’s consistently ridiculed in the press for her poor performance during Prime Minister’s Questions^[57]Express: I watched PMQs in horror as Kemi Badenoch made this one huge mistake^[58]The MirrorL PMQs live: Kemi Badenoch mocked for not listening after basic question blunder^[59]Huffington Post: Tory Gloom As Gaffe-Prone Kemi Badenoch Endures Another Miserable PMQs^[60]The Spectator: Where Kemi Badenoch keeps going wrong at PMQs^[61]The Scotsman: PMQs: Kemi Badenoch starts well against Starmer but then ruins it. The next lettuce? often reporting misleading facts, misunderstanding key facts or failing to score points against Starmer.

Her approval rating amongst UK voters has been dropping as well, with less that 48% of Conservative voters and 16% of Britons in general having a favourable opinion of her (compared to Starmer’s 23%, Davey’s 26%, Denyer’s 10%, Ramsay’s 4% and Farage’s 32% of Britons)^[62]YouGov: Political favourability ratings, May 2025

If these losses continue then her position as Leader of the Opposition will fall into question, especially considering the amount of supporters the Conservatives are haemorrhaging to Reform UK Party Limited.

But there are two issues:

Firstly there doesn’t seem to be any one suitable waiting in the wings to take over from her. The Conservatives were decimated at the last election and now they’re losing even more support thanks to their lack of cohesive policies and direction.

Secondly Badenoch, for want of a better term, cleanses the Conservative Party and absolves them of past issues. They can’t possibly hate all immigrants because Badenoch herself is an immigrant! Similarly the party can’t be racist because look! They voted in a black person! And they can’t be anti-women or misogynistic because they appointed a woman as leader!

Promoting another bland white guy to stand against Labour’s bland white guy, the Liberal Democrats bland white guy and Reform UK Party Limited’s bombastic white guy won’t gain them any extra points or bring back the voters and supporters they’ve lost.

Despite the controversies, foot-in-mouth moments, inferred racism and whitewashing of her own heritage it looks like Olukemi Olufunto Adegoke “Kemi” Badenoch will remain in her position of Conservative Leader for a while longer at least.

What do you think? Is there a clear replacement or do you think she’ll suddenly hit her stride? Let’s have a chat about it in the comments below!