LONDON – Kemi Badenoch, the first Black woman to lead a major political party in the UK, is an optimistic and outspoken libertarian who thinks the British state is broken and that she is the person to fix it with smaller government and radical new ideas.

The new leader of the centre-right Conservative Party in England Olukemi Adegoke was born in London in 1980 to a wealthy Nigerian family (a doctor and an academic) and spent most of her childhood in the West African country.

He said the experience of Nigeria’s economic and social turmoil shaped his political outlook.

“I grew up in a place where the lights didn’t work, where despite being an oil-producing country, we often ran out of fuel,” Badenoch told the BBC last week.

“I don’t underestimate what we have in this country,” he said. “I’ve met a lot of people who think everything is good here because everything is good here and always will be. “They don’t realize how much work and sacrifice it takes to get it.”

During the turbulent times in Nigeria, he returned to England at the age of 16 and worked part-time at McDonalds while finishing school, then studied computer systems engineering at the University of Sussex. He later earned a law degree and worked in financial services.

In 2012 she married banker Hamish Badenoch, with whom she has three children.

He was elected to the London Assembly in 2015 and to Parliament in 2017. He held a series of government roles in Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s 2019-22 government before becoming part of a mass ministerial exodus in July 2022 over a range of ethics reasons. Scandals that triggered Johnson’s downfall.

Badenoch unsuccessfully tried to replace Johnson, boosting his profile in the process. He was appointed as the minister of commerce in the 49-day government. Prime Minister Liz Trussand under business secretary Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

He retained his seat in parliament July national electionsIt was seen that the Labor Party won a large majority and the number of MPs of the Conservatives in the 650-seat House of Commons decreased to 121.

Like many Conservatives, Badenoch idolizes Margaret Thatcher, the party’s first female leader, who transformed Britain with her free-market policies in the 1980s. Citing his engineering background as evidence that he is a problem solver, he portrays himself as a disruptor, advocating a low-tax, free-market economy and promising to “restructure, reboot and reprogram” the British state.

A critic of multiculturalism and a self-proclaimed foe of wokeness, Badenoch opposes “identity politics”, gender-neutral bathrooms and government plans to reduce carbon emissions in the UK.

Supporters think his charismatic, outspoken style is just what the Conservative Party needs to bounce back. worst election defeat in history. During the leadership campaign, his supporters wore T-shirts saying “Be more Kemi”.

Critics say Badenoch clashes with colleagues and officers and has a tendency to make hasty statements and provoke unnecessary fights. She faced criticism during the leadership campaign for saying “not all cultures are equally valid” and suggesting that maternity pay was excessive, but she later backtracked on that claim.

“I speak my mind,” he told the BBC. “And I’m telling the truth.”