Kemi Badenoch has continued her campaign to be the next Conservative leader by saying the Equality Act being misinterpreted has “fed a lot of the discontent” seen in British communities.
Having started her campaign with an article in the Times where she said the last administration “talked right and governed left” she has tried to maximise her appeal to those who may have been tempted to vote for Reform UK last time.
Ms Badenoch had challenged the Equality Act during her time as minister for women and equalities and has now furthered her criticism by saying “two tier policing” was softer on protesters for progressive causes and racial minorities in recent riots.
In an online rally, she said: “I think that one of the things we need to strongly emphasise is equality under the law.
“There are too many people who have misinterpreted the Equality Act and think that there are different groups which are protected in different ways. That is not true.
“It is one of the things that has fed a lot of the discontent within communities, whether they’re complaining about two-tier policing or about the equality law being misapplied. You see it, whether it’s in the battles between women and trans rights activists, between different religions, between men and women, between black and white.”
Ms Badenoch recently attracted criticism for not attending a Conservative leadership husting in Yarm, North Yorkshire on August 17 because she was on holiday. A supporter of one of her rivals said her non-appearance showed she did not value the region enough, pointing out that the event was the sole one being held in the north.
However, she remains the favourite among party members to take over from Rishi Sunak.
The North West Essex MP is one of six candidates to succeed Mr Sunak and her appeal to the Right-wing of the Tory party has made her an early favourite. Dame Priti Patel, Mel Stride, Tom Tugendhat, James Cleverly and Robert Jenrick have all also thrown their hats into the ring.
Tory members will now begin vote to narrow the field of leadership candidates to four by voting ahead of the party conference, which runs from September 29 to October 2.
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The final two, picked by the parliamentary party, will then go to a vote of party members in an online ballot that will close on October 31, with the result announced on November 2.
But who is Kemi Badenoch and how did we get to this point?
What is Kemi Badenoch’s political background?
Born in Wimbledon, Ms Badenoch lived in the US and Nigeria as a child before returning to the UK aged 16. Her father, Femi Adegoke, was a GP and her mother, Feyi Adegoke, was a professor of physiology.
She has talked about working at McDonald’s while studying for her A-levels in Morden, south London.
After graduating from the University of Sussex with a master's degree in computer systems engineering, she worked for companies including the Royal Bank of Scotland and private bank Coutts, as well as the Spectator magazine.
She joined the Conservative Party in 2005, aged 25. Five years later, she stood as the Tory candidate in Dulwich and West Norwood, coming third in the vote won by Labour's Tessa Jowell. Then in September 2015 she joined the London Assembly, retaining her seat at the 2016 election. She became the London Tory spokeswoman for the economy and also sat on the transport committee and policing and crime committee.
She backed the Vote Leave campaign in 2016 and at the following year’s election she she stood in the safe Conservative seat of Saffron Walden in Essex and was elected to Parliament.
Ms Badenoch, 44, and married to banker Hamish Badenoch with whom she has three children.
Kemi Badenoch’s rise through the Tory ranks
To give her full name, Olukemi Olufunto Badenoch has had a long career within the Conservative Party and has been tipped consistently for big things.
She has served as international trade secretary before taking up her current role as business and trade secretary and in 2022, she put herself forward to replace former prime minister Boris Johnson as a “fresh face” for the Tories.
Ms Badenoch showed her right-wing credentials by standing on an anti-woke and small government platform.
More than a dozen Tory colleagues, including Michael Gove, backed her bid but, she ultimately lost to Liz Truss in the leadership campaign, finishing fourth.
She then went on to serve as international trade secretary from September 2022 to February 2023.
Her most recent role was minister for women and equalities which she surrendered when the Tories lost power – and has been the shadow equivalent since July.
Kemi Badenoch’s controversies
Ms Badenoch has rubbed people up the wrong way, with Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle and actor David Tennant both expressing frustration with her tone.
She was also criticised for publicly shaming journalist Nadine White in 2021. The HuffPost reporter had asked the equalities minister’s office about suggestions Ms Badenoch had refused to participate in a video featuring black cross-party politicians seeking to promote the Covid-19 vaccination.
Screenshots of Ms White’s two emails were shared on Twitter by Ms Badenoch, who branded them “creepy and bizarre”. Labour called for an investigation and Ms White said the MP’s actions set a dangerous precedent, threatening the role of a free press.
Ms Badenoch also admitted hacking Harriet Harman’s website in 2008 as part of a “foolish prank”. She guessed the Labour MP’s password and then posted a hoax blog post claiming that the then-minister for women and equality supported Boris Johnson in the London elections.
