By Abiola Olawale
Former British Business Secretary, Kemi Badenoch has shattered a glass ceiling following her historic emergence as the leader of the United Kingdom Conservative Party.
In a closely contested election, she emerged victorious against Robert Jenrick in the decisive final round of voting.
Badenoch has achieved a historic milestone as the first black woman to lead a major political party in the United Kingdom.
She takes over from Rishi Sunak as leader of the opposition after winning 53,806 votes against 41,388 for Jenrick, in a result announced by the party on Saturday morning.
Her leadership comes at a particularly crucial juncture for the Conservative Party, which is currently facing the challenges and ramifications of its most substantial electoral defeat in history.
Speaking after her win, Badenoch thanked the other candidates, saying the party has come through the campaign “more united”.
She said: “Our party is critical to the success of our country.
“But to be heard, we have to be honest, honest about the fact that we made mistakes, honest about the fact that we let standards slip.
“The time has come, to tell the truth, to stand up for our principles, to plan for our future, to reset our politics and our thinking, and to give our party and our country the new start that they deserve.
“It is time to get down to business. It is time to renew.”
Badenoch’s latest victory comes after she was declared the winner of the North West Essex legislative election on Friday after polling 19,360 votes to defeat her main challenger, Labour’s Issy Waiter, who garnered 16,750 votes in the July 2024 general election of the UK.
Badenoch was born in Wimbledon, London, to Nigerian parents. Her childhood was spent partly in the United States of America and Lagos, Nigeria, respectively. She returned to the United Kingdom at the age of 16.
After studying Computer Systems Engineering at the University of Sussex, Badenoch worked as a software engineer at Logica. She went on to work at the Royal Bank of Scotland Group as a systems analyst before working as an associate director at Coutts and later as a director at The Spectator magazine.
Kemi Badenoch joined the Conservative Party in 2005 and since then has been active in Conservative politics.
