The UK Conservative Party has elected Kemi Badenoch as its new leader, making her the first Black woman to head the party.
Badenoch, a prominent right-wing figure won the leadership race by a narrow margin over former cabinet minister Robert Jenrick, with 53,806 votes to his 41,388.
The announcement, made on Saturday, November 2, showed a close contest among approximately 130,000 dues-paying Conservative members, with about 73% casting ballots.
This election follows the party’s crushing defeat in the July 2024 general election, which saw Labour win a commanding majority.
Badenoch succeeds former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Britain’s first nonwhite leader, who took office in 2022.
With her selection, Badenoch joins the ranks of former Conservative female leaders including Margaret Thatcher, Theresa May, and Liz Truss.
In her victory speech to party members, Badenoch, 44, expressed gratitude, calling the role “the most enormous honor.”
Standing before an enthusiastic crowd, she said, “I hope that I will be able to repay that debt,” and pledged to steer the party back to what she described as “first principles”—freedom, individual responsibility, and a conservative ideology rooted in British identity.
With a promise to “reset our politics and our thinking,” Badenoch laid out a call for change without detailing specific policies, in keeping with her campaign’s avoidance of policy pledges.
“We made mistakes,” she admitted.
According to Professor Tim Bale of Queen Mary University in London, her pragmatic, sometimes contentious approach has earned her a reputation as a “thinking man’s Thatcherite cultural warrior.”
However, the reaction to Kemi Badenoch’s historic win as the first Black female leader of the UK Conservative Party has been divided.
Many on the left expressed concerns about Badenoch’s right-wing views. Sunder Katwala, director of the research institute British Future, acknowledged her authenticity but warned that her stance on race and immigration could be viewed as a “cynical performative device” by the right to oppose progressive policies.
Katwala remarked that Badenoch represents a unique perspective on “migrant patriotism”—valuing British citizenship from her experience of hardship in Nigeria, which may not resonate with all Black British citizens.
Scottish and Welsh leaders were particularly vocal in their skepticism.
Anas Sarwar, leader of Scottish Labour, congratulated Badenoch but criticized her proposal to potentially cut maternity pay, arguing it was a step backward for families already impacted by the Tories’ economic policies.
Liz Saville Roberts, leader of Plaid Cymru in Westminster, noted Badenoch’s disregard for Welsh concerns, pointing to her controversial comments on topics like autism and civil servants, which Roberts called “blunders.” She suggested the Tories’ challenges in Wales may be beyond Badenoch’s reach.
However, Labour leader Keir Starmer struck a more diplomatic tone, congratulating Badenoch on social media, he said her achievement was “a proud moment for our country.”
Meanwhile, Labour Party Chair Ellie Reeves was less optimistic, criticizing the Tories’ failure to reflect on their recent electoral defeat and arguing that Badenoch’s leadership signifies a refusal to change course.
Within Conservative circles, Badenoch’s supporters praised her for pledging to restore the party’s traditional principles. Her promise to “reset our politics and our thinking” was well received by those hoping for a renewed focus on conservative values, especially after the party’s recent losses.
Kemi Badenoch’s Background
Badenoch was born to Nigerian immigrants. Her mother, a physiology professor, and father, a doctor, raised her in Lagos, where the family experienced the country’s turbulent political and economic shifts.
Reflecting on her childhood, Badenoch recalled “doing homework by candlelight” and “fetching water from a well” during power outages.
She moved to London at 16 and worked part-time at a McDonald’s while completing her education.
After considering a career in medicine, Badenoch instead became a software engineer.
Kemi Badenoch met her husband, Hamish Badenoch, a managing director at Deutsche Bank, through their shared involvement in the Conservative Party. Both were active in party politics when Hamish was on the list of approved candidates for Parliament.
Badenoch has described how he became one of her biggest supporters, encouraging her ambitions within the party. In a BBC interview, she recalled him telling her, “I think you are a lot better at this than I ever would be, and I think you should go for it, and I will support you all the way.”
The couple now shares a life together raising their three children—two daughters and a son.
She has served as Minister of State for Equalities under Boris Johnson and later as Secretary of State for International Trade under Liz Truss, eventually leading the Department for Business and Trade under Sunak.
Challenges Ahead with Labour’s Dominant Majority
Despite her rise, Badenoch faces several challenge: Labour, under Prime Minister Keir Starmer, now commands a large majority in Parliament after its landslide victory.
Starmer’s early months as Prime Minister have been marked by mixed public opinion, yet Labour remains more popular than the Conservatives, whose 14 years in government left voters frustrated.
Badenoch’s leadership, however, brings a fresh conservative energy. While some party members see her stance on issues like “woke” ideology and immigration as a needed shift, her critics warn that her outspoken style could lead to internal turbulence.
She plans to reshape the party by addressing voter frustrations with more traditionally conservative solutions, including a focus on British identity and cutting down immigration.
“Numbers matter but culture matters more,” Badenoch said on immigration and her preference for assessing who is coming to Britain and why.
With four years until the next general election, Badenoch’s leadership could define the Conservative Party’s future.
