‘Best Place to Be Black’? Badenoch decries rising racist abuse, even though she once insisted Britain was the safest home for Black people. Now, as the first Black woman to lead the Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch has admitted she is shocked by the wave of attacks targeted at her since her election.
In an interview with the Sunday Times, Badenoch described the hostility as “Kemi derangement syndrome,” claiming that both online users and a few MPs have tried to discredit her because of her race. “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.
Turning Against Her Nigerian Roots
Many Nigerians, however, have not forgotten how Badenoch distanced herself from her own people. Born in Wimbledon but raised in Nigeria before returning to the UK at 16, she has consistently downplayed her Nigerian identity. She once mocked her heritage, denied connections to the community, and even pushed for policies that left many Black Britons feeling alienated, all to win applause from a white-dominated political establishment.
Her claim that Britain is “not a racist country” and that minorities are thriving while “white working-class boys struggle more” angered Nigerians both at home and abroad. For someone who has repeatedly rejected her roots, critics argue, Badenoch’s sudden outcry about racist abuse feels hypocritical.
Badenoch Decries Racist Abuse While Dismissing Nigeria
The Tory leader herself admitted that she has been hit with ethno-nationalist rhetoric online, with many saying she could not have achieved her position without outside help. She said:
“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.’”
But the same woman who dismissed her Nigerian identity now seeks sympathy for being treated unfairly because of her race. Nigerians recall how she embraced being British at the expense of her own background, even supporting narratives that undermined her people.
Struggles Within the Conservative Party
Beyond the racist abuse, Badenoch is also battling leadership challenges as the Conservatives sink to 17% in opinion polls. Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick has been linked to possible moves against her. Badenoch, however, dismissed such talk as “wishful thinking” and “sour grapes,” insisting her opponents treat politics as a game.
“When I hear those things, I can tell those people are not focused on the country at all. Many of those people having those conversations think this is a game. But the lives of people in this country aren’t a game,” she said.
Bottom Line
‘Best Place to Be Black’? Badenoch decries rising racist abuse, but Nigerians are reminding her that no matter how she tries to erase her roots, she remains one of them. She once denied her heritage for approval, yet now complains about racism in a country she called the safest for Black people. Her story is not just about abuse—it is about the contradictions of a leader who turned her back on her own people.
