Kemi Badenoch, known for her unapologetically direct style and willingness to challenge conventional wisdom, has become a favorite among grassroots Conservatives. Her outspoken views on issues like gender identity and institutional racism have energized supporters on the right while sparking criticism from the left. Throughout her career, she has clashed with civil servants, notably over her stance on maintaining separate men’s and women’s toilets in public buildings, and has faced accusations of bullying her staff. For some Conservatives, Badenoch’s bold, no-nonsense approach is seen as a refreshing alternative to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. However, others worry that her confrontational style may stir unnecessary controversies, detracting from the party’s focus on regaining lost ground.
Badenoch insists she doesn’t seek out confrontation or engage in “culture wars” for its own sake, but she rarely backs down from a fight. When actor David Tennant criticized her at an LGBT+ awards event, she responded forcefully, refusing to be “silenced by a rich, lefty, white male celebrity” attacking “the only black woman in government.” Her relationship with the LGBT+ community has at times been tense; she faced calls to resign as Equalities Minister after government advisors resigned over the failure to ban gay conversion therapy.
For some, it was initially surprising to see such staunch conservative views from a black woman. Early on, she was occasionally mistaken for a Labour MP. However, Badenoch is clear that her political beliefs are deeply rooted in her Nigerian heritage. Born in Wimbledon, she was raised in Nigeria, where her father was a doctor and her mother a physiology lecturer. When Nigeria’s economy suffered in the 1990s, her parents sent her to the UK at 16 to live with a family friend in south London. She worked part-time at McDonald’s while studying A-levels, experiencing a cultural shift from her middle-class Nigerian upbringing.
Determined to chart her own path, Badenoch went on to study computer engineering at Sussex University, inspired by her frustration with the patronizing attitudes of left-wing students. She later worked as a software engineer, moved into banking, and became a digital director at *The Spectator* magazine. In 2005, she joined the Conservative Party, inspired by figures like Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher.
After a failed bid for Parliament in 2005, she won the Saffron Walden seat in 2017, quickly establishing herself as a committed Brexiteer. Her maiden speech celebrated Brexit as “the greatest ever vote of confidence in the UK.” In government, she gained attention as Equalities Minister with her defense of the Sewell Report, which controversially argued that the UK is not institutionally racist. Her skepticism of identity politics is evident in her frustration that her mixed-race children with her husband, banker Hamish Badenoch, are often viewed solely as black, underscoring her distrust of rigid racial categorizations.
