All You Need To Know About Kemi Badenoch, British-Nigerian Contesting For UK Prime Minister

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All You Need To Know About Kemi Badenoch, British-Nigerian Contesting For UK Prime Minister
All You Need To Know About Kemi Badenoch, British-Nigerian Contesting For UK Prime Minister

All you need to know about British-Nigerian Kemi Badenoch (née Adegoke) can be accessed below.

Recall OKemi Badenoch declared her bid to become the next prime minister of the United Kingdom and leader of the Conservative Party, a declaration that has continued to attract public endorsements.

On Wednesday, Badenoch resigned from government, citing Johnson’s handling of the Chris Pincher scandal, in a joint statement with fellow Ministers Alex Burghart, Neil O’Brien, Lee Rowley, and Julia Lopez.

And two days later on Friday, she made the announcement to replace former PM, making her the latest high-profile Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) in the race after former chancellor Rishi Sunak.

Below Are Few Things You Should Know About Kemi Badenoch

Badenoch was born in Wimbledon, London, to Nigerian parents. Her childhood was spent in part of the United States of America, and in Lagos, Nigeria.

She returned to the United Kingdom at the age of 16.

After studying Computer Systems Engineering at the University of Sussex, Badenoch worked as a software engineer at Logica.

She went on to work at the Royal Bank of Scotland Group as a systems analyst before working as an associate director at Coutts and later as a director at The Spectator magazine.

Badenoch joined the Conservative Party in 2005 at the age of 25. At the 2010 general election, she contested the Dulwich and West Norwood constituency against Labour’s Tessa Jowell and came third.

A member of the Conservative Party, she served as the Minister of State for Local Government, Faith and Communities and Minister of State for Equalities between 2021 and 2022.

She was one of the nearly 60 members of parliament and aides who quit last week after Johnson apologised for appointing a senior colleague facing sexual assault claims to a prominent role.

During her time as equalities minister, Ms. Badenoch was criticised by members of the government’s LGBT+ advisory panel in March over postponements in banning conversion therapy.

She quit as a junior minister alongside four colleagues on Wednesday, saying in a joint letter that she was stepping down from her two roles with “great regret”.

Kemi is also a patron of several charities in the constituency including Support 4 Sight, The Stroke Club, and CVSU.

Her other areas of interest include engineering and technology, social mobility, and integration. She provides regular mentoring to women who wish to pursue careers in technology.

Badenoch is in the race to become the next UK prime minister alongside Rishi Sunak, former chancellor; Sajid Javid, former health secretary; Ben Wallace, defence secretary; and Jeremy Hunt, former foreign secretary, among several others.

Her declaration has attracted a number of public endorsements, including by some members of the British parliament such as Neil O’Brien, MP for Harborough; Michael Gove, MP for Surrey Heath; and Gareth Bacon, MP for Orpington.