AFTER years of distancing herself from her Nigerian roots, Kemi Badenoch has turned her fire on the UK, revealing that she has been shaken by the scale of racist abuse directed at her since rising to the top of the Conservative Party., despite having previously dismissed race as a major barrier to progress in the country.
Badenoch, who was elected Tory leader in July, told the Sunday Times she had been surprised by the scale of hostility directed at her since assuming office.
She accused some of her critics of being unable to accept her victory and suggested that race has been a factor in the abuse.
“There’s a certain cadre of people who clearly can’t cope with the fact that I won this and I’m doing it,” she said. “The level of personal attacks from anonymous people, it’s hysterical. Not even just from MPs … but online as well.
“People used to talk about Trump derangement syndrome. I think there’s a Kemi derangement syndrome: ‘How could she possibly have done this?’”
The 44-year-old politician, who was born in Wimbledon but spent much of her childhood in Nigeria before moving back to the UK at 16, revealed that she had received targeted abuse focusing on her ethnicity.
“There’s a lot of ethno-nationalism creeping up, lots of stuff about my race and my ethnicity and the tropes around, ‘well, she couldn’t possibly have done this all by herself,’” she said.
Badenoch has long held controversial views on race. She has previously rejected anti-racism campaigners’ positions and criticised critical race theory, insisting that Britain is not a racist country.
In 2020, she argued that white working-class boys were more disadvantaged than minorities on several social metrics, a statement that drew sharp backlash.
Despite these positions, Badenoch now admits her leadership has brought race into sharper focus.
“I always try to think of every possible explanation before I go to race and racism. I think that is a healthy way to run a society.
“But my view is that there are people out there who will say whatever it is, they will throw whatever kind of mud at you and they will hope that it sticks.”
Her remarks mark a striking shift, given her earlier insistence that Britain was “the best place in the world to be black.”
Badenoch’s leadership comes at a turbulent time for the Conservative Party, which is polling at just 17% amid deep public dissatisfaction.
She is preparing for her first party conference speech under intense scrutiny and speculation of a leadership challenge from her shadow justice secretary, Robert Jenrick.
On reports that Jenrick could soon replace her, Badenoch dismissed the speculation as “wishful thinking.”
“There will always be people who are sore losers – our candidate didn’t win, and so on, and sour grapes … When I hear those things, I can tell those people are not focused on the country at all.
“Many of those people having those conversations think this is a game. But the lives of people in this country aren’t a game.”
Her balancing act, navigating identity politics while seeking to project strength as a unifying leader could determine not only her future, but also that of the Conservative Party itself.