UK Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, has revealed she has been subjected to racist abuse since rising to the top of the party, despite previously downplaying race as a barrier to progress in Britain.
In an interview with the Sunday Times, Badenoch said she was taken aback by the level of hostility she has faced since her election as Tory leader in July.
She argued that some critics could not accept her victory and that race was part of the attacks.
“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 said. “The level of personal attacks from anonymous people, it’s hysterical. Not even just from MPs … 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?’”
The 44-year-old politician, who was born in Wimbledon but spent part of her childhood in Nigeria before returning to the UK at 16, disclosed that much of the abuse targeted her ethnicity.
“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 said.
Badenoch has long been known for her controversial views on race.
She has often clashed with anti-racism campaigners, criticised critical race theory, and insisted Britain is not a racist country.
In 2020, she drew backlash after claiming that white working-class boys were more disadvantaged than minorities across several social indicators.
Now, however, she acknowledges that her leadership has thrust race into sharper focus.
“I always try to think of every possible explanation before I go to race and racism. I think that is a healthy way to run a society.
“But my view is that there are people out there who will say whatever it is, they will throw whatever kind of mud at you, and they will hope that it sticks.”
Her remarks contradict her earlier stance that Britain was “the best place in the world to be black.”
Badenoch’s tenure begins at a turbulent moment for the Conservative Party, which is grappling with public dissatisfaction and polling at just 17 percent.
