Kemi Badenoch: What does new Conservative leader stand for?

Like her governmental heroine Margaret Thatcher, Kemi Badenoch - who has been elected person of the Conservative Party - divides sentiment adjacent wrong her ain party.

Her robust views, "anti-woke" values and no-nonsense benignant person made her a darling of the Conservative close and the party's grassroots and they person chosen her implicit chap close winger Robert Jenrick.

As the archetypal achromatic pistillate to pb a large UK governmental enactment she has made history, but she is nary instrumentality of individuality authorities and is not apt to marque overmuch of that arsenic she sets to enactment connected the formidable task of restoring her party's battered fortunes.

The erstwhile concern secretary's investigation of what went incorrect for the Conservatives astatine the wide predetermination is that they "talked right, but governed left", and request to "stop acting similar Labour" to triumph backmost power.

It is simply a pledge she has enactment astatine the bosom of her Tory enactment campaign, which has focused connected changing the underlying mindset of the British state.

Born successful Wimbledon successful 1980, Olukemi Adegoke was 1 of 3 children of Nigerian parents. Her begetter worked arsenic a GP and her parent was a physiology professor.

Badenoch - she joined banker Hamish Badenoch successful 2012 and they person 3 children - grew up successful Lagos, Nigeria, and successful the United States wherever her parent lectured.

She returned to the UK astatine the property of 16 to unrecorded with a person of her parent due to the fact that of the worsening governmental and economical concern successful Nigeria, and studied for her A-levels astatine a assemblage successful southbound London portion moving successful a McDonald's edifice and elsewhere.

After completing a grade successful machine engineering astatine Sussex University, she worked successful IT portion besides gaining a 2nd grade successful law.

She past moved into finance, becoming an subordinate manager of backstage slope Coutts and aboriginal worked arsenic the integer manager of influential Conservative-supporting mag The Spectator, a non-editorial role.

According to Blue Ambition, a biography written by Conservative adjacent Lord Ashcroft, it was astatine Sussex University that Badenoch got a sensation for right-wing authorities - becoming "radicalised" by the left-wing field culture, successful the other direction.

She aboriginal described pupil activists determination arsenic the "spoiled, entitled, privileged metropolitan elite-in-training".

Badenoch joined the Conservative Party successful 2005 - aged 25 - and stood unsuccessfully for Parliament successful 2010 and the London Assembly successful 2012.

When 2 Tory Assembly members, including Suella Braverman, were elected MPs successful 2015, she took a vacant Assembly seat.

She backed Brexit successful the 2016 referendum earlier achieving her ambition of becoming an MP a twelvemonth later, for the harmless Conservative spot of Saffron Walden successful Essex.

Badenoch had spent 3 years bouncing astir inferior authorities roles erstwhile successful 2022 she joined the accelerated ministerial exodus which brought down Boris Johnson.

To the astonishment of galore of her colleagues, Badenoch past joined the sprawling contention to win Johnson contempt ne'er having been successful the cabinet.

What began arsenic a longshot run with the enactment mostly of loyal friends who besides entered Parliament successful 2017 rapidly gained momentum, and heavyweight enactment successful the signifier of Michael Gove.

Badenoch yet came 4th with the backing of 59 MPs - much than the 42 MPs who were capable for her to decorativeness apical successful the parliamentary signifier of the existent enactment election.

Her nonstop approach, instructing her colleagues to “tell the truth”, won Badenoch a bigger relation successful the Conservative Party and it was inevitable that Liz Truss chose to name her to the furniture - making her planetary commercialized secretary.

Rishi Sunak retained her successful post, adding the concern and women and equalities briefs.

Her clip successful Parliament has been characterised by her straightforwardness and willingness to prosecute successful arguable issues.

As a inferior equalities curate nether Johnson, she enraged galore connected the near erstwhile she challenged the conception determination was wide organization racism successful Britain.

In an LBC interview, she said she had experienced prejudice lone from left-wingers.

"I came to this state aged 16 and present I americium lasting for premier curate - isn't that amazing? I was calved successful this state but I didn't turn up here.

"I don't recognize wherefore radical privation to disregard each of the bully things and lone absorption connected the atrocious things, and usage the atrocious things to archer the story," she added.

She calls herself a gender-critical feminist, and has been an outspoken hostile of moves to let self-certification of transgender identity.

As the furniture curate successful complaint of women and equalities, she spearheaded the UK government's blocking of Scotland's Gender Recognition Reform Bill.

Responding to the Cass study connected sex individuality services successful the NHS, she said they had been "hijacked by ideologues" portion critics were "gagged", resulting successful children being harmed.

She has besides opposed gender-neutral toilets.

In 2021, members of the government's ain LGBT+ advisory sheet urged her to "consider her position" implicit the nonaccomplishment to present a manifesto pledge to prohibition alleged conversion therapy.

Badenoch is often labelled a "culture warrior" but she disputes the tag.

Sometimes accused of wanting to commencement a combat successful an bare room, she says she does not similar to combat - but is prepared to combat to support Conservative principles.

That is simultaneously what endears her to Conservative MPs and what makes immoderate of them anxious.

During the aboriginal stages of the enactment predetermination respective Conservative MPs told the BBC they were inclined to enactment Badenoch but were enactment disconnected by fractious interactions portion she was successful government.

To her supporters, that’s the point: dissimilar different ministers she was consenting to archer MPs what she believed and marque the lawsuit for it forthrightly.

On the eve of this year's enactment league successful Birmingham, she made headlines with a assertion that not each cultures were "equally valid", citing arsenic an illustration "cultures wherever women are told that they should not work".

She besides got attraction successful Birmingham for quipping that 5-10% of civilian servants were truthful atrocious they should beryllium successful prison. She has antecedently powerfully denied bullying officials.

But she backtracked aft an interrogation successful which she appeared to suggest the existent level of maternity wage was "excessive". She claimed her words had been "misrepresented", saying she had been talking astir excessive concern regularisation and maternity wage was "a bully thing".

In 2018, Badenoch admitted that, a decennary earlier, she had hacked into the website of then-Commons person and lawman Labour person Harriet Harman arsenic a prank. Harman accepted her apology.

Among nationalist spats, successful February, she accused the Post Office seat she had sacked of seeking "revenge" by "making up" claims helium been told to hold compensation payments for sub-postmasters affected by the Horizon IT scandal.

Henry Staunton said helium had been told to stall pay-outs to let the authorities to "limp into the election", seemingly to easiness the nationalist finances.

Nor has Badenoch shied distant from nationalist clashes with MPs connected her ain broadside - including erstwhile she rejected calls to marque it amerciable to discriminate against radical going done the menopause.

Appearing earlier a Commons committee, she told seat Caroline Nokes "loads of people" wanted to usage equalities instrumentality arsenic "a instrumentality for antithetic idiosyncratic agendas and interests".

During her enactment campaign, Badenoch has spoken of Conservatism being "in crisis" - nether onslaught from a caller "progressive ideology" involving "identity politics" (politics based connected a peculiar individuality specified arsenic race, religion oregon gender), changeless authorities intervention, and "the thought that bureaucrats marque amended decisions than individuals" oregon elected politicians.

Despite the Tories being successful bureau for 14 years, she argues that increases successful authorities regulations and nationalist spending person crippled economical maturation and polarised the country.

She rejected Robert Jenrick's telephone for cardinal enactment policies to beryllium settled now, saying the UK's "system is broken" and requires a reset.

The Conservative Party, she adds, needs to instrumentality to its halfway values and travel up with caller policies that recognise this reality.