Kemi Badenoch

The Right Honourable
Kemi Badenoch
MP
Official portrait, 2024
Leader of the Opposition
Incumbent
Assumed office
2 November 2024
MonarchCharles III
Prime MinisterKeir Starmer
Preceded byRishi Sunak
Leader of the Conservative Party
Incumbent
Assumed office
2 November 2024
Preceded byRishi Sunak
Secretary of State for Business and Trade
In office
7 February 2023 – 5 July 2024
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded byGrant Shapps[a]
Succeeded byJonathan Reynolds
President of the Board of Trade
In office
6 September 2022 – 5 July 2024
Prime MinisterLiz Truss
Rishi Sunak
Preceded byAnne-Marie Trevelyan
Succeeded byJonathan Reynolds
Minister for Women and Equalities
In office
26 October 2022 – 5 July 2024
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded byNadhim Zahawi[b]
Succeeded byBridget Phillipson
Secretary of State for International Trade
In office
6 September 2022 – 7 February 2023
Prime MinisterLiz Truss
Rishi Sunak
Preceded byAnne-Marie Trevelyan
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Junior ministerial offices
Minister of State for Local Government, Faith and Communities
In office
16 September 2021 – 6 July 2022
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byLuke Hall
Succeeded byPaul Scully
Minister of State for Equalities[c]
In office
14 February 2020 – 6 July 2022
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byThe Baroness Williams of Trafford
Succeeded byAmanda Solloway
Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury
In office
13 February 2020 – 16 September 2021
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded bySimon Clarke
Succeeded byHelen Whately
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families
In office
27 July 2019 – 13 February 2020[d]
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byNadhim Zahawi
Succeeded byVicky Ford
Shadow Cabinet posts
Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
In office
8 July 2024 – 2 November 2024
LeaderRishi Sunak
Preceded byAngela Rayner
Succeeded byKevin Hollinrake
Member of Parliament
for North West Essex
Saffron Walden (2017–2024)
Incumbent
Assumed office
8 June 2017
Preceded byAlan Haselhurst
Majority2,610 (4.8%)
Member of the London Assembly
as the 4th Additional Member
In office
5 May 2016 – 8 June 2017
Preceded byGareth Bacon
Succeeded bySusan Hall
Member of the London Assembly
as the 9th Additional Member
In office
16 September 2015 – 5 May 2016
Preceded byVictoria Borwick
Succeeded byShaun Bailey
Personal details
Born
Olukemi Olufunto Adegoke

(1980-01-02) 2 January 1980 (age 44)
Wimbledon, London, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse
Hamish Badenoch
​
(m. 2012)​
Children3
Education
Occupation
  • Politician
  • Software engineer
  • Consultant
Signature
Websitekemibadenoch.org.uk
Kemi Badenoch's voice
Badenoch speaks in a debate on socialism versus capitalism
Recorded 28 May 2018

Olukemi "Kemi" Olufunto Adegoke Badenoch (/ˈkɛmi ˈbeɪdənɒk/ KEM-ee BAY-də-nok;[1][2][e] née Adegoke; born 2 January 1980)[4] is a British politician who has served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Conservative Party since November 2024. The first black person to hold those offices, she previously served in the Cabinet under Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak from 2022 to 2024.[5] She has been Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Essex, previously Saffron Walden, since 2017.[6]

In 2012 Badenoch unsuccessfully contested a seat in the London Assembly, but became a member of the London Assembly after Victoria Borwick was elected as an MP in 2015. A supporter of Brexit in the 2016 referendum, Badenoch was elected to the House of Commons at the 2017 general election.

After Boris Johnson became prime minister in July 2019, Badenoch was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families. In the February 2020 reshuffle she was appointed Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities. In September 2021 she was promoted to Minister of State for Equalities and appointed Minister of State for Local Government, Faith and Communities.

In July 2022, Badenoch resigned from government in protest at Johnson's leadership; she stood unsuccessfully to replace him in the July–September 2022 party leadership election.[7][8] After Liz Truss was appointed prime minister in September 2022, Badenoch was appointed Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade and was appointed to the Privy Council;[9] she was reappointed Trade Secretary by Truss's successor, Rishi Sunak, the following month, also becoming Minister for Women and Equalities.

In the February 2023 Cabinet reshuffle, Badenoch assumed the position of Secretary of State for Business and Trade following the merging of the Department for International Trade with elements of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Badenoch retained the responsibilities of Women and Equalities Minister.[10] After the Conservatives' defeat in the 2024 general election, Badenoch was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government in Sunak's Shadow Cabinet and later launched her bid to become leader of the Conservative Party in the 2024 leadership election. She defeated Robert Jenrick in the members' ballot, becoming party leader and Leader of the Opposition.

Badenoch is aligned with right-wing positions on systemic racism,[11] the integration of immigrants and trans self-identification. In 2024, she was accused of bullying while responsible for the Department for Business and Trade.[12][13]


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ UK Parliament (29 May 2018). "Pupil Parliament: Kemi Badenoch MP reacts to New Hall School, Chelmsford". YouTube. Archived from the original on 8 July 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  2. ^ a b Badenoch, Hamish (23 July 2022). "My life as a political spouse". The Spectator. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  3. ^ Pointon, Graham, ed. (1990). BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names (2nd ed.). Oxford: The University Press. ISBN 0-19-282745-6.
  4. ^ Brunskill, Ian (19 March 2020). The Times guide to the House of Commons 2019: the definitive record of Britain's historic 2019 General Election. HarperCollins Publishers Limited. p. 319. ISBN 978-0-00-839258-1. OCLC 1129682574. Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  5. ^ Cecil, Nicholas (2 November 2024). "Kemi Badenoch becomes Tory leader following win over Robert Jenrick". The Standard. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  6. ^ Coyle, Simon (4 July 2024). "North West Essex general election 2024 results in full". Manchester Evening News. ISSN 0962-2276. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  7. ^ McFadden, Brendan (8 July 2022). "Former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch announces Tory leadership bid". inews.co.uk. Archived from the original on 8 July 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  8. ^ "Conservative leadership latest: Badenoch out as Sunak wins fourth Tory vote". BBC News. 19 July 2022. Archived from the original on 19 July 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  9. ^ Tilbrook, Richard (13 September 2022). "Orders Approved and Business Transacted at ahe Privy Council Held by the King at Buckingham Palace on 13th September 2022" (PDF). The List of Business. p. 2. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  10. ^ Nevett, Joshua (7 February 2023). "Sunak reshuffle: Shapps named energy secretary in department shake-up". BBC News. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  11. ^ "Tories pick first Black woman to lead a major UK political party". POLITICO. 4 November 2024. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).