What does Kemi Badenoch stand for?

Kemi Badenoch
Kemi Badenoch

Kemi Badenoch, the former business secretary and equalities minister under Rishi Sunak, has beaten Robert Jenrick to be the next leader of the Conservatives.

The MP for North West Essex is known for being particularly outspoken on the issues of Brexit and gender ideology and is on the Right of the Tory Party.

This was the second time that Mrs Badenoch has made a run at the party leadership, having stood to replace Boris Johnson in the summer 2022 election.

What does she stand for?

Mrs Badenoch threw her hat into the ring in July with a declaration that capitalism is not a “dirty word”, putting her free market values at the heart of her pitch.

The shadow housing secretary is an advocate of a smaller state and has said that “sovereignty” and upholding Brexit are key issues.

She has also been particularly vocal on transgender issues, and as equalities minister she was behind the transgender guidance for schools and a proposed law to ensure same-sex toilets in all public buildings.

Earlier this year she had a public spat with actor David Tennant, who is a vocal advocate for trans rights, after he said he wished she “did not exist any more”.

Mrs Badenoch has more broadly regularly spoken out against what she calls “identity politics” concerning race and gender.

Her leadership campaign, Renewal 2030, is focused on her pitch for reinventing the Conservative Party by taking it back to what she calls its “first principles” in time for the first year they can next be in power.

The shadow housing secretary has said upholding Brexit is a key issue
The shadow housing secretary has said upholding Brexit is a key issue - Zahn Trotter/Department for Business & Trade

What is her political background?

The shadow housing secretary joined the Conservative Party aged 25 and one year later volunteered for the Global Poverty Commission policy group.

She has said that her political views were strongly influenced by her time at the University of Sussex and her experience witnessing student activism.

She told The Times: “One of the things that drove me insane was how they talked about Africa. So high-minded. ‘We need to help Africans. Let’s boycott Nestlé because they make African mothers give their babies powdered milk.’

“Having parents who were doctors, I knew when women are malnourished, formula milk might be a better alternative, and mothers with Aids can’t breastfeed at all.

She added: “These stupid Leftie white kids didn’t know what they were talking about. And that instinctively made me think, ‘These are not my people.’”

She first stood as an MP in 2010 in the seat of Dulwich and West Norwood but came third. She became a London Assembly member in 2015 before being successfully elected as the MP for Saffron Walden in 2017.

Her first ministerial brief was in the Department for Education in 2019 and has had stints in the Treasury and Levelling Up departments.

What is her family background?

Mrs Badenoch, 44, is British-Nigerian and spent much of her childhood in Lagos before moving back to England for her studies.

Her husband, Hamish, is a banker with Deutsche Bank and a former Tory councillor in Merton, and they have three children together.

Mrs Badenoch as a child with her father
Mrs Badenoch as a child with her father

How does she feel about Brexit?

Mrs Badenoch has been an unwavering supporter of Brexit since the referendum, having voted to exit the European Union.

She described the Brexit vote as “the greatest ever vote of confidence in the project of the United Kingdom” in her maiden speech in the Commons.

Her brief in the Department of Business and Trade under Mr Sunak was one of the most central to post-Brexit strategy, as she worked on trade deals with other countries.

Ahead of this year’s general election, she said that Brexit was a “10 or 20-year project” and that “making sure everyone is focused on getting those benefits is absolutely critical”.

Warning Brexit was under threat with a Labour administration, she told The Telegraph: “I think that’s one area where I’ve tried to do as much as possible, but we need more of that strategy.”

What scandals has she been involved in?

Mrs Badenoch has had a number of public spats over recent years, including notably with the former chairman of the Post Office during the Horizon scandal.

Henry Staunton was sacked by the businesses secretary in January and claimed in The Sunday Times that Mrs Badenoch told him that “someone’s got to take the rap” for the hundreds of sub-postmasters wrongly prosecuted between 1999 and 2015.

Mr Staunton, who had been in post since December 2022, also said he had never met Mrs Badenoch before being sacked, which he claimed he discovered via a call from Sky News.

The explosive interview also saw Mr Staunton claim that a civil servant instructed him to stall compensation to victims of the Horizon scandal.

Mrs Badenoch took aim at both Mr Staunton and The Sunday Times over the interview, accusing the journalist of having chosen “to ignore the facts and run with Staunton’s words”.

The shadow housing secretary has also been accused of “bullying” behaviour causing senior officials to quit the business department when she was business secretary.

The allegations that she traumatised members of her staff, reported by the Guardian, were branded a “hit job” by Mrs Badenoch.

Mrs Badenoch and Michael Gove reportedly fell out after he had an affair with one of her acquaintances
Mrs Badenoch and Michael Gove reportedly fell out after he had an affair with one of her acquaintances - ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo

Another scandal in Mrs Badenoch’s personal life involved Michael Gove, a formerly close political ally, when the pair reportedly fell out after he had an affair with one of her acquaintances.

Mrs Badenoch has also had a more public falling out with Suella Braverman, whom she reportedly accused of having a “very public” nervous breakdown.

Last month, Mrs Badenoch distanced herself from comments she made in 2018 in which she welcomed relaxed immigration rules.

The Conservative leadership front-runner had praised reforms by Sajid Javid, then the home secretary, which included lifting a cap on highly skilled migrants.

Mrs Badenoch also praised Mr Javid’s decision to allow students from the European Union to stay in Britain for six months after graduating.

But after the 2018 remarks resurfaced in The Sun newspaper, the shadow communities secretary said she had changed her mind and called for a “truthful” debate on migration policy.