Kemi Badenoch was appointed leader of the British Conservative Party on Saturday, November 2. Of Nigerian origin, she is the first black woman to hold this position. Renowned for her outspokenness and defending a hard right line, she dreams of ultimately occupying the chair of Prime Minister. Of Yoruba ancestry and from a privileged background in Lagos, she has a cultural heritage that fuels a strong ambition: to ultimately occupy the highest political positions in the United Kingdom.
2 mins
With our correspondent in Abuja, Moses Gomis
Kemi Badenoch was born in 1980 in London, but it was in an upscale district of Lagos that she grew up.
The new leader of the British opposition is the eldest of a general practitioner in a private clinic and a university professor. In 1996, his parents sent him to United KingdomTHE Nigeria is then plunged into the years of lead of the dictator Sani Abacha.
A public visit to Nigeria in 2024
After studying computer science, Kemi Adegoke, her maiden name, landed a full-time contract in finance, then as an executive manager of The Spectatora right-wing English political weekly.
In 2005, Kemi Badenoch joined the Conservative Party, she rose through the ranks from local elected official to Minister of State in the last Tory government. Moreover, her last public visit to Nigeria was in February 2024. While Minister of Commerce, she signed several partnerships between the United Kingdom and her country of origin.
“ First generation immigrant »
Granddaughter of a Methodist pastor, Kemi Badenoch defines herself in disorder as Christian, Yoruba, British, and also an anti-gender feminist.
If she proclaims herself “ first generation immigrant “, she wants to unwind the United Kingdom, restoring, according to her, its greatness by defending tough policies, particularly on immigration. She hopes to become a new “Iron Lady”, like her role model Margaret Thatcher.
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