By Dayo Dare
UK politician Kemi Badenoch has hit a political low after months of controversial remarks on immigration policy. The Conservative Party leader is known for her anti-woke values and has been vocal about her views on immigrants. While she once set out to restore Great Britain and rebuild her party’s reputation, her political career recently took a hit as the Conservatives suffered the worst election defeat in their history.
The loss shocked many, but others saw it as a moment of reckoning for Badenoch, who has frequently spoken critically about immigrants despite being born into a family of immigrants herself.
Who Is Kemi Badenoch?
Kemi Badenoch was born in 1980 in Wimbledon, England, as one of three children. Her father worked as a general practitioner, and her mother was a physiology professor. She spent her early years in Lagos, Nigeria, before returning to the UK at age 16 to complete her A-levels.
After earning a computer engineering degree from the University of Sussex, she worked in IT while also studying law. She later transitioned to finance, becoming an associate director at private bank Coutts. Badenoch also served as digital director for The Spectator, a Conservative-supporting magazine, in a non-editorial capacity. In 2012, she married banker Hamish Badenoch, and the couple have three children.
Badenoch’s Taste for Right-Wing Politics and Rise to Power
Badenoch joined the Conservative Party in 2005 at age 25. She stood unsuccessfully for Parliament in 2010 and for the London Assembly in 2012. Her breakthrough came when she filled the vacant London Assembly seat of Suella Braverman, another prominent Tory.
She backed Brexit during the 2016 referendum and was elected MP for the safe Conservative seat of Saffron Walden in 2017. Badenoch spent three years in junior government roles before joining the ministerial team that helped bring down then–Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2022. She launched a long-shot bid to succeed him as party leader, a campaign that gained unexpected traction and support from political heavyweights such as Michael Gove.
Badenoch ultimately finished fourth in the leadership race, winning the support of 59 MPs—more than the 42 that would be enough to top the current parliamentary stage of leadership elections.
Controversies and Cabinet Role
During her time in office, Badenoch has been known for her no-nonsense attitude and, more controversially, her remarks on immigration and racism. In an interview with LBC, she criticized left-wing views on institutional racism, arguing that the narrative focused too heavily on the negative. She claimed institutional racism was not as widespread as many claimed.
As the cabinet minister in charge of women and equalities, Badenoch led the government’s opposition to Scotland’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill and voiced strong objections to gender-neutral toilets.
However, her stance on immigration has drawn the most attention and backlash. Recently, Badenoch urged Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government to adopt the Conservative-proposed deportation bill as a solution to rising immigration.
She warned that without action, around two million immigrants could gain British citizenship by next year.
“From next year, two million immigrants could automatically claim British citizenship. That’s nearly twice the population of Birmingham,” she said.
“We’ve introduced a deportation bill because we are committed to bringing immigration down. Until that’s the law, we won’t fix it. Labour should adopt it now. It’s time to get tough. That’s what the Conservatives’ deportation bill delivers. Our country is a home, not a hotel.”
The political leader also made some denigrating comments on her country of origin—Nigeria—that provoked angry remarks from Nigerians. In 2022, Badenoch pointed out the corruption and injustice in the Nigerian government. She spoke against the gross misuse of funds, bullying by those in authority, and went on to condemn the government and the way things were set up.
“I grew up in Nigeria, and I saw firsthand when politicians are in it for themselves. When they use private money as their piggy banks, when they promise the earth and they pollute not just the earth, but the whole political atmosphere with their failure to serve others,” she remarked.
In the years that followed, the Conservative leader continued to stir up trouble by constantly berating Nigeria and those in authority. She was recently called out by the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, who accused Badenoch of not portraying a positive image of Nigeria, to which she responded, “I am not Nigeria’s public relations representative.”
Badenoch has used many opportunities to insult and slander Nigeria, from commenting on the police force to the system of government. In the recent line of public humiliation, the Conservative leader—during her maiden speech in 2025—went on to accuse Nigeria of destroying lives.
In her speech, she highlighted the importance of building trust and positioning the Conservative Party as the solution to Britain’s challenges. Badenoch warned that the British system risks faltering, likening it to Nigeria’s governance issues.
“And why does this matter so much to me? It’s because I know what it is like to have something and then to lose it,” Badenoch told a packed audience.
“I don’t want Britain to lose what it has.
“I grew up in a poor country and watched my relatively wealthy family become poorer and poorer, despite working harder and harder as their money disappeared with inflation.
“I came back to the UK aged 16 with my father’s last £100 in the hope of a better life. So I have lived with the consequences of terrible governments that destroy lives, and I never, ever want it to happen here,” she said.
Her comments were met with widespread criticism from the Nigerians who called her a disgrace. Badenoch has especially been criticized by immigrant communities, who viewed her stance as hypocritical given her own background. Despite the backlash, Badenoch stood by her views but it now appears that her hardline positions may have contributed to her political downfall.
The Historic Defeat and Badenoch’s Apology
In a historic turn of events, Badenoch presided over the worst local election defeat the Conservative Party has ever suffered. In the 2025 local elections, the Conservatives lost 676 council seats and were forced to surrender control of 16 local authorities in an unprecedented collapse.
In lieu of this, local Tory leaders, including those in Broxbourne Borough Council, have called for Badenoch’s resignation, accusing her of failing to support grassroots campaigns. Still, she has refused to step down.
“What kind of leader would I be if I just quit at the first sign of trouble?” she said during a visit to a hospice in Chelmsford.
“I said right from November, when I was elected, that it was going to be very challenging.”
Despite her defiance, Badenoch did express regret to party members.
“I want to extend my deepest apologies to our dedicated councillors who worked tirelessly for their communities but were let down by a leadership that has not been listening closely enough,” she said in a press briefing.
Following this major setback, many are watching closely to see what steps Badenoch will take to repair the damage done to her party’s morale. One key issue behind the defeat was the lack of grassroots engagement—a problem that must be addressed well before the next election. Whether Badenoch can win back the trust of her party remains to be seen.
