Nigerian-born Kemi Badenoch became the new leader of the UK Conservatives on Saturday, succeeding Rishi Sunak, who resigned following the party’s poor performance in July’s general election.
At 44 years old, Badenoch emerged victorious in a two-candidate race against former immigration minister Robert Jenrick, securing 57 percent of the votes from party members.
She described her election as party leader as an “enormous honour,” while acknowledging that “the task that stands before us is tough.”
Badenoch emphasized the need for honesty, stating, “We must recognize that we made mistakes” and “let our standards slip.” She called for a commitment to renewal: “It is time to get down to business.”
The former equalities minister now faces the significant challenge of reuniting a divided and weakened party that was ousted from power in July after 14 years in government.
As the official leader of the opposition, she will confront Labour’s Keir Starmer during the traditional Prime Minister’s Questions every Wednesday in the House of Commons. However, she will do so leading a much smaller group of Conservative MPs following the party’s disappointing electoral results.
Her responsibilities include developing a strategy to regain public trust and counter the rise of the right-wing Reform UK party, led by Brexit figurehead Nigel Farage.
When addressing immigration, Badenoch said that “not all cultures are equally valid” when deciding who should be allowed to live in the UK.
She was widely criticised after suggesting that statutory maternity pay on small businesses was “excessive” and sparked further furore when she joked that up to 10 percent of Britain’s half a million civil servants were so bad that they “should be in prison”.
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