Kemi Badenoch, who recently made history as the first Black woman to lead the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom, has opened up about the racist abuse she continues to receive since assuming leadership.
In her interview with the Sunday Times, Badenoch revealed that she had been targeted by both online trolls and a minority of Members of Parliament. She described the hostility as a new form of political obsession against her, branding it “Kemi derangement syndrome.”
“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 explained. “The level of personal attacks from anonymous people—it’s hysterical. Not even just from MPs. I actually don’t think it’s that many MPs. I think it’s two to three people out of 120. That’s nothing. 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?’”
She further noted that her critics often question her success, using her race and ethnicity as an excuse to diminish her achievements. “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 lamented.
Badenoch’s remarks are particularly striking given her previous statements distancing herself from her Nigerian roots. Born in Wimbledon, she spent part of her childhood in Nigeria before relocating back to the UK at the age of 16.
Looking ahead to her first Conservative Party conference speech, Badenoch faces both public pressure and private speculation that rival figures such as shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick could challenge her authority. But she dismissed such claims as “wishful thinking” and “sour grapes.”
“When I hear those things, I can tell those people are not focused on the country at all,” she said. “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 statements underscore the challenges of navigating both racial identity and political power in modern Britain, particularly as the Conservative Party struggles with a record-low poll rating of 17 percent.
Frontpagenews.ng reports that Badenoch’s determination to confront racial prejudice while reshaping the Conservative Party will likely remain a focal point in UK political discourse.
