British Tories believe Kemi Badenoch should be the next leader of the Conservative Party, according to a recent poll. But few Britons—and likely even fewer of those reading on the Continent—know who she is, what, if anything, she stands for and whether she could shake her party from its persistent stupor.
After spending some time in IT and financial services, Badenoch became an MP in 2017. She had previously stood for election in numerous seats since 2010, then aged 30. During her brief time in parliament, she has held roles in numerous departments and has gained something of a name for herself among politicos.
Plenty of Tories think Badenoch is great, as this recent poll, which places her above supposed heavyweight Suella Braverman, suggests. What is described as her anti-woke approach to politics has landed her the title, the “darling of the right.” For example, it didn’t go unnoticed that Kemi late last year pushed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to get “much, much tougher” on immigration measures, just before the issue became most prominent in the news.
But even just a short time watching—never mind researching and reporting on—British Conservative Party officials teaches one to be sceptical of appearances.
The now-business secretary has become particularly popular among the Tory ‘right’ because of her stated position on transgender issues. Also women’s and equalities minister, Kemi has warned of an “epidemic” of gay children being told they are transgender, describing this as a “new form of conversion therapy.”
Tough words, no doubt—yet guidelines which she has helped create have been criticised for being sloppy, to the point that schools can get away with simply ignoring them. And this is after Badenoch is said to have toughened her stance, though only because of “pressure” from other MPs rather than her own conviction.
(In a similar vein, Badenoch in October was reported to have “reservations” about Sunak’s transgender conversion therapy ban but decided not to oppose it anyway.)
The wording of the long-anticipated trans guidelines for schools, which ended up falling flat, is far from definitive, as we reported last week:
It says that when a child requests to ‘social transition’—explained in the guidance as “changing names, uniforms, or using different facilities to help a child appear more like the opposite sex”— schools “should make parents aware” (emphasis added), except in “the very rare situation where informing parents might raise a significant risk of harm to the child.” Also that “we would expect parental consent to be required” (emphasis added), but “in the vast majority of cases,” rather than on all occasions.
Despite her tough talk, Kemi played a large part in this flop. Tories felt she had done the same early last year when she defended Sunak’s U-turn on scrapping retained EU laws. She tried to pin the blame on “Whitehall departments.” But Reform Party Deputy Leader Ben Habib told The European Conservative “Her excuse is simply implausible. And, even if it were true, it would be an incredible admission of ineffectual management on her part.”
Badenoch actually put herself forward to lead the Tories back in 2022, declaring that she would tell people “the truth.” She will likely do so again when Sunak finds himself out of Number 10, and her rhetoric will no doubt play well among the party’s grassroots. But if, as looks increasingly likely, the coming years are headlined by a long Labour rule, this language may never be properly put to the test.
