Kemi Badenoch

Elected Conservative Party leader on 2 November 2024, Badenoch promised a return to more ideological conservatism and developed a more restrictive stance on immigration, greater criticism of constraints imposed by the European Convention on Human Rights and a more confrontational approach to sex, gender and identity issues. Reuters described her rise as potentially shifting the party towards the populist right.

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Documented

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Direct responsibility

Badenoch dismissed Robert Jenrick from her shadow cabinet and suspended him from the Conservative Party, stating that she had 'clear, irrefutable' evidence that he was secretly preparing a defection intended to damage the party. A few hours later, Jenrick joined Reform UK.

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Directly implicated

Under Badenoch, the Conservatives proposed barring non-British citizens from new social housing allocations and reducing or freezing several components of housing assistance to fund approximately £10 billion in additional spending towards raising defence expenditure to 3 % of GDP by 2030. Homelessness charities warned that the cuts could increase homelessness, while some critics raised concerns about repeating administrative problems comparable to Windrush.

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Directly implicated

Badenoch strongly criticised the Burnham government's decision to ban imports from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and impose further sanctions on settlement-linked actors, arguing that the policy risked fuelling antisemitism. Her position also divided Conservatives, with some party MPs supporting the sanctions.

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Directly implicated

Badenoch made a new national inquiry into child sexual exploitation gangs a major opposition issue in early 2025. She also described some perpetrators as 'peasants' from 'sub-communities' in countries where women are mistreated, language criticised as stigmatising. Keir Starmer had initially accused her of seeking political advantage.

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Documented

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Personally implicated

As Business Secretary, Badenoch oversaw some of the compensation arrangements for victims of the Horizon scandal, asked Fujitsu to discuss a contribution and dismissed Post Office chairman Henry Staunton in January 2024. Staunton subsequently claimed that a senior civil servant had asked him to slow compensation payments for budgetary reasons. Badenoch rejected this account in Parliament and cited governance and internal relationship problems to justify his departure.

Attribution

Political responsibility

Addressing a TheCityUK conference, Badenoch challenged the idea that the United Kingdom's wealth and economic development stemmed primarily from colonialism, imperialism or white privilege. She highlighted institutions emerging from the Glorious Revolution and legal certainty as central factors in economic growth.

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Personally implicated

A Guardian investigation reported accounts from civil servants and former colleagues alleging that Badenoch had created an intimidating atmosphere at the Department for Business and Trade and that several officials had been traumatised or driven out. Sources described humiliating meetings and a severe deterioration in morale within her private office.

Attribution

Directly implicated

During the Conservative leadership campaign, Badenoch said in a discussion about regulation and personal responsibility that maternity pay was 'excessive' and that the regulation imposed on businesses had gone too far. The wording triggered a strong political backlash.

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Personally implicated

Badenoch stated that 'not all cultures are equally valid' when deciding whom to admit to the United Kingdom, referring to societies where women have fewer rights, child marriages, imported ethnic hostilities and some immigrants hostile to Israel. Her remarks fuelled debate about the boundary between integration, shared values and cultural stigmatisation.

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Personally implicated

At an event during the Conservative conference, Badenoch said that around 5 to 10 % of civil servants were 'very, very bad' and 'should-be-in-prison bad', citing leaks of official secrets, attempts to undermine ministers and trade union agitation. The FDA trade union asked her to produce evidence or withdraw the allegation.

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Documented

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Personally implicated

As Equalities Minister, Badenoch announced a review of the list of countries whose legal gender recognition documents permitted an expedited British procedure. The proposal particularly targeted jurisdictions that had adopted self-identification and drew opposition from LGBT organisations concerned about increased difficulties and discrimination for transgender migrants.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

Badenoch replaced the proposal to automatically repeal approximately 4,000 retained EU laws with a list of around 600 laws to be repealed immediately. Brexit-supporting MPs, the opposition and the Speaker of the House of Commons accused the government of a major U-turn and criticised the way the change had been announced.

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Documented

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Directly implicated

A recording made in her parliamentary office in 2018 and published by VICE in 2021 showed Badenoch questioning the development of LGBT demands following same-sex marriage and using language regarded as disparaging towards transgender people, particularly by referring to transgender women as men.

Attribution

Personally implicated

WhatsApp messages from 2018 published in 2021 attributed the statement 'I don’t care about colonialism' to Badenoch, alongside an analysis suggesting that European colonisation had primarily changed the distribution of winners and losers in African societies already marked by internal conflicts. The messages sparked substantial historical and political controversy.

Attribution

Personally implicated

In 2021, while Kemi Badenoch held ministerial responsibilities for equalities, Equality Hub officials met Core Issues Trust, an organisation advocating practices intended to help individuals move away from unwanted same-sex attraction. VICE reported that the meeting followed communications with Badenoch, provoking considerable controversy while the government was preparing its proposed ban on conversion practices.

State of the evidence

Disputed

Kemi Badenoch admitted in 2018 that approximately ten years earlier she had accessed Labour MP Harriet Harman's personal website by guessing her login credentials and had posted a false message suggesting that Harman supported Boris Johnson. The admission raised questions under the Computer Misuse Act.

State of the evidence

Admitted by the person

Attribution

Personally implicated