Age, Biography, and Wiki
Kemi Badenoch, born on January 2, 1980, is a British politician who has been active in the political scene, particularly as the Leader of the Conservative Party since November 2024. She is known for her contributions to trade negotiations and her stance on various national policies. Her biography is detailed on Wikipedia.
| Occupation | Politician |
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| Date of Birth | 2 January 1980 |
| Age | 45 Years |
| Birth Place | Wimbledon, London, England |
| Horoscope | Capricorn |
| Country | England |
Height, Weight & Measurements
There is no publicly available information regarding Kemi Badenoch's height, weight, or body measurements.
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Dating & Relationship Status
Kemi Badenoch is married to Hamish Badenoch. Her relationship with Hamish is often highlighted for its supportive dynamic, with Hamish being supportive of her career while maintaining his own interests.
In later interviews, Badenoch denied claims she was an "anchor baby" and asserted that her family did not know she was in fact eligible for a British passport until she was a teenager. She is one of three children born to Nigerian Yoruba parents.
Her father, Femi Adegoke, was a GP who later founded a publishing company in Nigeria and became an activist for the rights for the Yoruba people. Her mother Feyi was a professor of physiology at the University of Lagos. She has a brother and a sister. According to a profile in The Times, Badenoch is the first cousin once removed of former Nigerian Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.
Badenoch spent her childhood living in Lagos, Nigeria, and in the United States, where her mother lectured. Badenoch has spoken about having a "very tough upbringing" in Nigeria. Her family lived in the middle class neighbourhood of Surulere and she was a student at the private International School of Lagos. Badenoch has described her background as "middle-class" but said in 2018 "Being middle class in Nigeria still meant having no running water or electricity, sometimes taking your own chair to school" and claimed that her family went through "periods of poverty" due to inflation. She returned to the UK at the age of 16 to live with a friend of her mother's owing to the deteriorating political and economic situation in Nigeria, which had affected her family. During her parliamentary maiden speech Badenoch stated that she was "to all intents and purposes a first-generation immigrant".
In February 2024, a letter to a parliamentary committee, Badenoch argued that children likely to grow up gay may be wrongly medicalised as transgender. She wrote: "Evidence that children likely to grow up to be gay [and be same-sex attracted] might be subjected to conversion practices on the basis of gender identity rather than their sexual orientation…. A young person and their family may notice that they are gender non-conforming earlier than they are aware of their developing sexual orientation. If gender non-conformity is misinterpreted as evidence of being transgender and a child is medically affirmed, the child may not have had a chance to identify, come to terms with or explore a same-sex orientation." That same month, Badenoch defended Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after he joked about trans women in front of the mother of murdered trans teenager Brianna Ghey. She wrote on X: "Every murder is a tragedy. None should be trivialised by political point-scoring. As a mother, I can imagine the trauma that Esther Ghey has endured... I’ve done all I can to ensure we have take [sic] the heat out of the debate on LGBT issues while being clear about our beliefs and principles."
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| Husband | Hamish Badenoch (m. September 2012) |
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Net Worth and Salary
As of 2025, Kemi Badenoch's net worth is estimated to be between £1.2 million and £2 million. This comes from her earnings as an MP and cabinet member, as well as her previous roles in the private sector, such as her position at Coutts Bank. Her annual salary is estimated to be around £160,000 to £200,000.
She initially worked within the IT sector, first as a software engineer at Logica (later CGI Group) from 2003 to 2006. While working there she read Law part-time at Birkbeck, University of London, graduating as Bachelor of Laws (LLB) in 2009. Badenoch then worked as a systems analyst at the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, before pursuing a career in consultancy and financial services, working as an associate director at private bank and wealth manager Coutts from 2006 to 2013 and later a digital director for The Spectator from 2015 to 2016.
In a 2024 speech, Badenoch said: "It worries me when I hear people talk about wealth and success in the UK as being down to colonialism or imperialism or white privilege or whatever." Instead, she said "the Glorious Revolution of 1688 – which led to the development of the UK constitution and solidified the role of parliament – should be credited for providing the kind of economic certainty that paved the way for the Industrial Revolution."
In September 2024, while standing to be leader of the Conservative Party, Badenoch was asked if she believed that "maternity pay is excessive". In response, Badenoch answered, "I think it's gone too far, too far the other way in terms of general business regulation, we need to allow businesses, especially small businesses, to make more of their own decisions". Later the same day, during an interview with Sky News, Badenoch stated that maternity pay was "a good thing" and said "I don't think it is excessive", saying that she was speaking about business regulation in general, rather than maternity pay specifically.
In a 2024 pamphlet distributed as part of her campaign for leadership of the Conservative Party, Badenoch said that politics has shifted away from class "in the old sense – increasingly, whether you are high income does not drive your voting patterns. Educated voters are moving left, and many private sector voters on average incomes are moving right." She also said that a new 'progressive ideology' was on the rise built on "the twin pillars of constant intervention on behalf of protecting marginalized, vulnerable groups, including protecting us from ourselves – and the idea that bureaucrats make better decisions than individuals, or even democratic nation states".
Investments
- Family Assets: Kemi and Hamish own a family home in London valued at approximately £1 million. They also have additional savings and investments, though details are kept private for security reasons.
In the February 2023 Cabinet reshuffle, Badenoch assumed the position of Secretary of State for Business and Trade following the merging of the Department for International Trade with elements of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Badenoch retained the responsibilities of Women and Equalities Minister. Following the Conservatives' defeat in the 2024 general election, Badenoch was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government in Sunak's Shadow Cabinet and later launched her bid to become leader of the Conservative Party in the 2024 leadership election. She defeated Robert Jenrick in the members' ballot, becoming party leader and Leader of the Opposition.
In a February 2023 Cabinet reshuffle, Badenoch was appointed as the first Secretary of State at the newly created Department for Business and Trade, with continued responsibility for equalities. The new role was effectively an expansion of her portfolio as International Trade Secretary to include the business and investment responsibilities of the newly dissolved Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
In December 2023, Badenoch decided to refuse an application, which was said to have been approved by the British Phonographic Industry, for Music Export Growth Scheme (MEGS) funding from Belfast based rappers Kneecap. BBC News reported that a government spokesperson said it was "hardly surprising" that they did not want to hand out UK taxpayers' money to those opposed to the United Kingdom. The rap group claimed that the actual reason for the refusal was that a poster for their 2019 'Farewell to the Union' tour, which depicted Boris Johnson tied to a large firework rocket, had angered the Conservative Party. On 29 November 2024, the Belfast High Court ruled that the British government had acted illegally by withholding the £14,250 in funding on the sole basis of the band's political views, with the UK’s Department for Business and Trade agreeing that the original decision by Badenoch had been “unlawful and procedurally unfair”. In a statement, Kneecap accused the former Tory government of committing "a fascist type action, an attempt to block art that does not agree with their views".
In July 2024, The Guardian reported that at least three officials working under Badenoch had experienced bullying in the Department for Business and Trade and that she had created an intimidating atmosphere while she was in charge. According to this report, the officials felt "pushed out" by "bullying and traumatising" behaviour and claimed that individuals were regularly humiliated and occasionally left in tears after working with her. An official "town hall" meeting had been held in December 2023 to address low morale in the department. Badenoch denied these claims, describing them as smears from former staff and accusing them of "covering up their own failures and general gross incompetence", and accused The Guardian of acting on behalf of the Labour Party. A department spokesperson confirmed that there were no formal complaints or investigations into Badenoch's alleged behaviour.
Following the 2024 United States presidential election which resulted in the victory of Donald Trump, Badenoch wrote a column in The Daily Telegraph imploring the British government to resume trade deal talks with the United States which had been scrapped by the Biden administration. She argued that the reelection of Trump was a "golden opportunity" for agreements between Britain and America and claimed "the onus is now on the Labour Government to put aside their embarrassing student politics diplomacy, which has already shot Britain in the foot on Israel and the Chagos Islands" and warned that delays by Starmer's government to engage with Trump's administration would put Britain at risk if the White House introduced trade tariffs.
In 2023, Badenoch referred to China's role on the world stage as a "challenge" rather than a "threat" to Britain and argued "Chinese people are different from the Chinese government and it is important to be diplomatic." By 2024, Badenoch argued that China represented a threat through "economic coercion" and a deliberate strategy to "flood the market, driving other nations’ industries out of business." She wrote "too many of the world’s economies continue to develop a dependency on China, including the UK. This is dangerous for our economy and our freedom. We need to understand exactly how our exposure to China impacts our national security to ensure that we can’t be blackmailed" and argued that net zero targets in Britain risked handing the Chinese government an unfair economic advantage through outsourced EV, battery and solar production to China involving slave labour. Badenoch argued that Britain should participate in the Trans-Pacific Partnership and embed itself in trade agreements within the Indo-Pacific region to create more economic competition with China.
In March 2021, Badenoch was encouraged to "consider her position" as an Equalities Minister by Jayne Ozanne, one of a group of three government LGBT advisers who quit their roles due to the decision by the government not to include transgender conversion therapy in its plans to ban gay conversion therapy, with Ozanne describing a speech by Badenoch on the issue as being "appalling" and the "final straw".
Social Network
Kemi Badenoch is active on social media platforms, including Instagram, where she shares updates about her political work and personal life. Her Instagram handle is @kemibadenoch.
Badenoch published a series of tweets in January 2021 in which she included screenshots of questions sent to her office by HuffPost journalist Nadine White whom she, as a result, accused of "creepy and bizarre behaviour". White subsequently made her Twitter account private, citing the abuse she received. Badenoch's actions were criticised by both the National Union of Journalists and the Council of Europe's Safety of Journalists Platform. She was defended by the Prime Minister's press secretary who commented that it was all a "misunderstanding".
In 2022, Badenoch, as Equalities Minister, approved the appointment of Joanne Cash as a Commissioner to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) board. Badenoch said that Cash had "a track record of promoting women's rights and freedom of expression". Subsequently, in the summer of 2022, Cash donated to Badenoch's campaign as a candidate for leadership of the Conservative Party. In 2023, after the appointment was completed, Anneliese Dodds, shadow equalities minister, said the government was engulfed in "sleaze and cronyism" and Badenoch should "come clean" about why she had not declared a political interest in the appointment. When it reported the story, The Guardian said Badenoch had not broken any rules and quoted an Equality Hub spokesperson saying the "appointment was made following a full and open competition".
In May 2025, on the occasion of a negotiation of a new deal with the European Union by Keir Starmer's government, Kemi Badenoch declared " “There is a big difference between an 18 year old from France who’s coming for their gap year and a 30 year old with several children who’s coming from a much poorer EU country like Bulgaria or Romania."
During a House of Commons debate in April 2021, Badenoch criticised the Labour Party's response to a report compiled by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities that had declared Britain was not institutionally racist. Labour had described the report as "cherry-picking of data", while the party's former frontbench MP Dawn Butler claimed the report was "gaslighting on a national scale", describing those who put it together as "racial gatekeepers". Badenoch accused Labour of "wilful misrepresentations" over the report and responded to Butler's comments by stating "It is wrong to accuse those who argue for a different approach as being racism deniers or race traitors. It's even more irresponsible, dangerously so, to call ethnic minority people racial slurs like Uncle Toms, coconuts, house slaves or house negroes for daring to think differently."
In September 2024, Badenoch wrote an article for The Sunday Telegraph in which she argued that "We can not be naïve and assume immigrants will automatically abandon ancestral ethnic hostilities at the border, or that all cultures are equally valid. They are not." She argued that "Our country is not a dormitory for people to come here and make money. It is our home. Those we chose to welcome, we expect to share our values and contribute to our society. British citizenship is more than having a British passport but also a commitment to the UK and its people." Badenoch also called for a better "integration strategy" that emphasised British values and culture, referring in her article to the head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Baroness Falkner, who had reported that "we seem to be failing to integrate" new immigrants, and "called for new arrivals to the UK to be required to take an 'integration course', adopting an approach used in Germany".
Regarding the United Kingdom's colonial history, Badenoch has argued that "there were terrible things that happened during the British Empire, there were other good things that happened, and we need to tell both sides of the story".
In 2019, Badenoch abstained on a vote to extend same-sex marriage rights to Northern Ireland. In February 2023, Badenoch defended Scottish politician Kate Forbes after Forbes said marriage should only be between a man and a woman. Badenoch stated: "I support same-sex marriage and, like anyone, I’m disappointed when anyone disagrees with me. But if you’re asking me to condemn someone for their religious views you’ve failed to understand the basic responsibilities of being minister for equality."
In 2021, Vice News received leaked audio from 2018 in which Badenoch said "Even when, you know, so, people hear about, you know like the whole bathroom thing, it's actually more of an American thing but they have a similar problem, that, right so now it's not just about being free to marry who you want, you now want to have men using women’s bathrooms." She was accused by critics of mocking gay marriage and of transphobia for referring to trans women as "men". A government spokesperson rejected these claims, saying that "This 2018 comment has been taken out of context, with the Minister making a clear point about striking the balance for equality and fairness when there are multiple and often competing demands between different groups. It should not be used to misrepresent her views." On 13 July 2020, Badenoch held an introductory meeting with the LGB Alliance, a group which has been widely criticised for opposing transgender rights.
In an article in The Sunday Times in the aftermath of the publication of the Cass Review, an investigation into gender identity services in the NHS, Badenoch wrote that had "those who warned that gender services in the NHS had been hijacked by ideologues been listened to instead of gagged, children would not have been harmed and the Cass review would not have been required. Our responsibility is to ensure that nothing like it ever happens again."
Education
While specific details about Kemi Badenoch's educational background are not widely highlighted, her professional experience and political career suggest a strong educational foundation. However, detailed information about her education is not publicly emphasized in available sources.
This article provides a comprehensive overview of Kemi Badenoch's net worth, career, and personal life, highlighting her significant contributions to British politics and her balanced approach to family and professional responsibilities.
Badenoch studied A Levels in biology, chemistry and maths, at Phoenix College, a further education college in Morden, south London. She achieved a B in Biology, a B in Chemistry and a D in Maths, claiming that "no one at the school had pushed [her] to fulfil [her] potential" despite being a "straight A student" while in Nigeria and that being let down by the British education system pushed her to become a Conservative. She consequently missed out on her place at Warwick University. Concurrently, she worked at a branch of McDonald's, among other jobs. During this time, she said she "became working class". Badenoch studied Computer Systems Engineering at the University of Sussex, completing a Master of Engineering (MEng) degree in 2003. She studied law at Birkbeck, University of London, graduating with a LL.B. in 2009, and becoming a Fellow of Birkbeck in 2018.
On 1 May 2024 Badenoch's office used a letter sent by Conservative MP Eddie Hughes to Walsall Academy as evidence to support Badenoch's claim that girls at a school who did not want to use gender-neutral toilets developed urinary tract infections. Hughes had claimed in May 2023 in a letter to Walsall Academy that "one female pupil has developed a UTI" as she did not feel comfortable using gender-neutral toilets.
In her acceptance speech, Badenoch vowed to "renew" the Conservative Party, setting out her belief that the Conservatives had two responsibilities: to "hold this Labour Government to account" and to "prepare over the course of the next few years for government". She became the first black leader of any major UK political party and the fourth woman to lead the Conservative Party, after Margaret Thatcher, Theresa May and Liz Truss.
Starmer said politicians and activists were "spreading lies and misinformation" over grooming gangs, and were appealing to the far-right. Professor Alexis Jay, who chaired the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse said: "It doesn't need more consultation, it does not need more research or discussion, it just needs to be done."
In a Black History Month debate in the House of Commons in October 2020, she reiterated the government's opposition to primary and secondary schools teaching white privilege and similar "elements of critical race theory" as uncontested facts. ConservativeHome readers voted Badenoch's speech on critical race theory 2020 "speech of the year", in which she said that any school that teaches "elements of political race theory as fact, or which promotes partisan political views such as defunding the police without offering a balanced treatment of opposing views, is breaking the law."
Badenoch said that the consequent growth in government regulations and public expenditure cripples economic growth, polarises societies, and leads to a "new and growing bureaucratic class", where "more and more jobs are related not to providing goods and services in the marketplace, but are instead focused around administering government rules."
Kemi Badenoch was a board member of the Charlton Triangle Homes housing association until 2016, and was also a school governor at St Thomas the Apostle College in Southwark, and the Jubilee Primary School.
