“I Face Constant Attacks Over My Race and Ethnicity”- Kemi Badenoch

• UK Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has dismissed claims that her rise was due to diversity policies, saying critics rely on racist tropes portraying black people as “lazy, corrupt or DEI hires.”

• She described the backlash as “Kemi derangement syndrome,” stressing her success was earned on merit despite growing scrutiny over her leadership.

UK Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has pushed back against critics questioning her rise to leadership, accusing them of resorting to racist tropes.

In an interview with The Times, Badenoch revealed that some individuals within and outside her party believe her success is tied to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies rather than merit.

“There’s a certain cadre of people who clearly can’t cope with the fact that I won this and I’m doing it. The level of personal attacks from anonymous people is hysterical,” she said. “People used to talk about Trump derangement syndrome. I think there’s a Kemi derangement syndrome.”

She added that critics often dismiss her achievement with remarks such as: “How could she possibly have done this? It must have been DEI.”

According to Badenoch, such criticisms lean on racist stereotypes, portraying black people as “lazy, corrupt or all DEI hires” — a notion she described as “extraordinary” since she takes “everyone at face value.”

The 45-year-old, who grew up in Nigeria before moving to the UK at 16, said she frequently faces online abuse laced with racist rhetoric. However, she clarified that Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary who lost to her in the Conservative leadership race, was not behind the speculation.

“There’s a whole swathe of stuff online: There’s a lot of ethno-nationalism creeping up, lots of stuff about my race and my ethnicity and the tropes around: ‘Well, she couldn’t possibly have done this all by herself’. People who used these tropes were trying to tell a story about me that is wholly untrue and which everyone around me knows is untrue,” Badenoch explained.

“I think even Rob himself finds it distressing, but it’s just something that we deal with.”

Badenoch assumed party leadership following Labour’s 2024 general election victory under Keir Starmer, which ended 14 years of Conservative rule. But amid poor ratings, speculation continues to swirl over whether the Tories might replace her.