Kemi Badenoch: British-Nigerian contesting for UK Prime Minister
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (UK), Boris Johnson, in a not-so-surprising move, resigned his position on July 7, 2022.
A British Nigerian, Olukemi Olufunto Badenoch, is one of the aspirants contesting to replace Johnson.
Who is Kemi Badenoch?
Full name Olukemi Olufunto Badenoch (née Adegoke) is a British politician born in Wimbledon, London on January 2, 1980, to Nigerian parents.
Her childhood was spent partly in the US (where her mother lectured) and Lagos, Nigeria. She returned to the United Kingdom at the age of 16.
In an opinion piece published on the Daily Mail, Kemi stated; “It’s the opportunity I’ve enjoyed as a girl from Nigeria who came here as a 16-year-old and grew to love the United Kingdom”.
Age
Considering her date of birth January 2, 1980, Kemi Badenoch as she is fondly called is currently 42 years old as at 2022.
Education
Kemi studied Computer Systems Engineering at the University of Sussex, completing an MEng in 2003.
She studied law part-time at Birkbeck, University of London and completed an LLB in 2009.
Marriage (Husband) and Children
Kemi got married to her husband, Hamish Badenoch in 2012. The couple has two daughters and a son.
Her husband works for Deutsche Bank and was a politician. He served as a Conservative councillor from 2014 to 2018 on Merton London Borough Council, representing Wimbledon Village.
Non-political Career
After studying Computer Systems Engineering at the University of Sussex, Badenoch worked as a software engineer at Logica from 2003 to 2006.
She worked at the Royal Bank of Scotland Group as a systems analyst before pursuing a career in consultancy and financial services, working as an associate director of private bank and wealth manager Coutts from 2006 to 2013 and later a digital director at The Spectator magazine from 2015 to 2016.
Political career
Badenoch joined the UK Conservative Party in 2005 at the age of 25.
At the UK’s 2010 general election, she contested the Dulwich and West Norwood constituency against the opposition, Labour Party’s candidate, Tessa Jowell, and came third behind Jowell, and Jonathan Mitchell of the Liberal Democrat Party.
In 2012, Badenoch unsuccessfully contested a seat on the London Assembly and was placed fifth.
Her emergence as a London Assembly member three years later was unexpected. In the 2015 general election held in UK, lawmaker, Victoria Borwick was elected to the House of Commons and subsequently resigned her seat on the London Assembly. The fourth-placed candidate on the list, Suella Fernandes, had also been elected to the House of Commons and declined to fill the vacancy.
Kemi Badenoch who had been fifth was therefore declared to be the new Assembly Member. She went on to retain her seat in the Assembly in the 2016 election.
Three years later, she was selected as a London Assembly member. Badenoch supported Brexit in the 2016 referendum on EU membership.
She was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Saffron Walden at the 2017 general election.
Badenoch served as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities from 2020 to 2021.
In September 2021, she was promoted to Minister of State for Equalities and appointed Minister of State for Levelling Up Communities.
Resignation and declaration
Badenoch resigned as a minister in July 2022.
Announcing her resignation, she said; “With great regret, I resigned from the government this morning. It has been an honour being Equalities and Local Government minister. It was a privilege to have worked with so many great ministerial colleagues and civil servants in these roles”.
Shortly after her resignation, she announced her candidacy in the 2022 Conservative Party leadership election. The winner of the election will automatically become the nation’s Prime Minister.
