Nigerian-British politician and a Member of Parliament, Kemi Badenoch, is an aspirant eyeing to replace British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.
Badenoch is in the race with seven others to become the Conservative leader and British PM after Boris Johnson resigned from office.
Others in the race are Suella Braverman, Jeremy Hunt, Penny Mordaunt, Rishi Sunak, Tom Tugendhat, Liz Truss and Nadhim Zahawi.
Here are five things to know about Badenoch:
Early life
Olukemi Olufunto Badenoch was born on 2 January 1980 to Femi and Feyi Adegoke. Badenoch was born in Wimbledon, London, to parents of Nigerian origin. Her childhood was spent in part in Lagos, Nigeria, and the US.
Her father was a GP and her mother is a professor of physiology. She has two siblings, Fola and Lola.
Education
Badenoch studied Computer Systems Engineering at the University of Sussex, completing an MEng in 2003. She also studied law part-time at Birkbeck, University of London, and completed an LLB in 2009.
Personal life
Kemi is married to Hamish Badenoch; they have two daughters and a son. Hamish works for Deutsche Bank and was a Conservative councillor from 2014 to 2018 on Merton London Borough Council, representing Wimbledon Village.
Meanwhile, Badenoch was a board member of the Charlton Triangle Homes housing association until 2016, and was also a school governor at St Thomas the Apostle College in Southwark, and the Jubilee Primary School.
Badenoch’s father Femi died in February 2022 and she took bereavement leave from her ministerial duties for a brief period.
Political career
Badenoch is a British politician who has served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Saffron Walden since 2017.
She is also a member of the Conservative Party> She served as Minister of State for Local Government, Faith and Communities and Minister of State for Equalities between 2021 and 2022.
Ambition
Badenoch resigned from government On 6 July 2022, citing Boris Johnson’s handling of the Chris Pincher scandal, in a joint statement with fellow Ministers Alex Burghart, Neil O’Brien, Lee Rowley and Julia Lopez.
Two days later she launched a bid to replace Johnson as Conservative party leader. She made the announcement in an article for The Times. She later launched her campaign at an event held on 12 July.