By As the Conservative Party prepares to elect a new UK Prime Minister following the resignation of Boris Johnson, former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch has thrown her hat in the ring for the job.
BlackBox Nigeria had earlier reported the five politicians who are likely to replace Johnson in the coming months.
Badenoch, the MP for Saffron Walden, was one of the many government officials who resigned from office on Wednesday — a development which eventually forced Johnson out of office.
The 42-year-old, who is of Nigerian origin, confirmed her decision to contest the party leadership in an article for The Times.
She said she would lower taxes, but also have a “tight spending discipline”.
“Without change the Conservative Party, Britain and the western world will continue to drift” and rivals will “outpace us economically and outmanoeuvre us internationally,” she wrote.
“I’m putting myself forward in this leadership election because I want to tell the truth. It’s the truth that will set us free.”
Badenoch was born in Wimbledon, London on January 2, 1980, to Nigerian parents. She spent part of her childhood in the United States (where her mother lectured) and Lagos, Nigeria. She returned to the United Kingdom at the age of 16.
She was 25 when she joined the Conservative Party in 2005, and contested the Dulwich and West Norwood constituency in the 2010 general election, but came third.
Two years later, she unsuccessfully ran for seat on the London Assembly. Luck would shine on her in 2015 when she became a member of the same parliament after the winner of the seat resigned.
In 2017, Badenoch was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Saffron Walden. From 2020 to 2021, she served as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Equalities.
In September 2021, she was promoted to Minister of State for Equalities and appointed Minister of State for Levelling Up Communities. During her time, she was said to have been criticised by members of the government’s LGBT+ advisory panel in March over delays in banning conversion therapy.
