Kemi Badenoch, British-Nigerian Born 44-year-old political wizkid, on Saturday won the election to replace Rishi Sunak as leader of the Conservative Party. This historic feat makes her the first person of African descent to lead the Tories.
Mrs Badenoch was the only British-Nigerian of the Conservative stock that won her election when the Keir Starmer-led Labour Party coasted to an unprecedented landslide victory in the July 4, 2023 United Kingdom General Elections.
She retained her seat. However, other Nigerians that made it to the Parliament were all from Labour party.
Badenoch was re-elected as a Conservative Party member of Parliament despite a landslide loss of the Tories to the Labour Party.
She won with 19,360 votes defeating her main challenger, Labour’s Issy Waiter, who garnered 16,750 votes.
Speaking shortly after her victory at the polls, Badenoch said, “Many of my friends and colleagues have lost their seats. They have served their country with distinction. Their service will never be in vain. But the public have spoken and they have said loud and clear that the Conservatives have lost their trust.”
Badenoch has served under various prime ministers including Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and recently Keir. Starmer.
The news of Badenoch’s victory was relayed by the Conservative Party, who announced her victory in a post on X on Saturday:
“ANNOUNCED: @KemiBadenoch has been elected Leader of the Conservative Party,” the party tweeted.
The BBC reported that Badenoch, 44, beat Robert Jenrick after a four-month contest, sparked by Sunak’s resignation in the wake of a humiliating election defeat.
The vote saw a turnout of 72% according to Conservative MP Bob Blackman.
Most people said they had not formed an opinion of Ms Badenoch yet, according to a YouGov poll. But 40 per cent of those questioned said they disliked her.
Former justice secretary Robert Buckland said that as a leader, Ms Badenoch “will be an excellent person to work with”, having seen her strong character and abilities first-hand when they worked in government together.
“She knows that the party’s values need to be reset and that we’ve got to win trust as without trust, we don’t get anywhere in terms of electoral success,” he added. “I think she better understands that more than most and that’s why she deserved to win.”
The role as opposition leader was an “unenviable task” and Ms Badenoch “will not be under any doubt about the scale of work ahead to win back power”, he added.
“She is the person who had more MP support than any other in the leadership race so people need to knuckle down and get on with the job of opposing the government, not opposing each other.”
He added that he hoped a “new phase in politics” would see Ms Badenoch unite the party and “the Tories regrouping”.
He also suggested that she listen to think tanks and policy units who have the expertise to provide her with new and innovative policies.
“It’s going to be very hard and unglamorous, but I believe Kemi has the strength of spirit to do it,” he said.
