Nigerian-born Kemi Badenoch is among the top six candidates in the run to replace the United Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, after the first round of voting.
Kemi Badenoch was Minister of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities between 16 September 2021 and 6 July 2022.
She was Minister of State (Minister for Equalities) in the Government Equalities Office between 14 February 2020 and July 2022.
She was previously Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury from 13 February 2020 to 15 September 2021 and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Education from 27 July 2019 to 13 February 2020.
The United Kingdom Conservative Party announced that Badenoch, along with finance minister Nadhim Zahawi and former foreign minister Jeremy Hunt, has been eliminated.
Badenoch, who is a lawmaker, got 40 votes to increase her chances of being ahead of Tom Tugendhat, who got 37 and Suella Braverman, who got 32.
It is reported that the slate of candidates is diverse, with four contenders from ethnic minorities and four women.
Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak, who left as the finance minister last week to enhance Borris Johnson’s downfall, leads the votes with the support of 88 Conservative members of parliament votes, followed by Penny Mordaunt, with 67, who polling shows is most popular with the party membership that will ultimately decide the race, and foreign secretary Liz Truss with 50 votes.
It is reported that 358 Conservative lawmakers had gathered in the corridor at Parliament on Wednesday afternoon to line up and cast their ballots.
Meanwhile, eight candidates had secured the required backing of 20 of their colleagues to make the first ballot.
Hence, other rounds of voting will take place on Thursday and, if needed, next week, until just two candidates remain.
The final two contenders will face a runoff vote by about 180,000 Conservative Party members across the country. The winner is scheduled to be announced on September 5 and will automatically become prime minister, without the need for a national election.
Recall that the candidates are jostling to replace Johnson, who quit as Conservative leader last week amid a party revolt triggered by months of ethics scandals. He will remain in office as a caretaker prime minister until his replacement as party chief is chosen.
A few facts about Kemi Badenoch
1. Badenoch was born Olukemi Olufunto Adegoke on January 2, 1980, in London to parents of Nigerian origin.
2. Her father, Femi, was a doctor, and her mother, Feyi, was a professor of physiology.
3. She has two siblings: a brother named Fola and a sister called Lola.
4. She spent her childhood days in Lagos, Nigeria, before moving back to the UK at 16.
5. She studied systems engineering at Sussex University and also studied law part-time at Birkbeck, University of London.
6. She has worked as a maths tutor, a systems analyst, and a digital director.
7. Badenoch joined the Conservative Party in 2005 at the age of 25.
8. She has been both a primary and secondary school governor, holding the role at St Thomas the Apostle College, a Catholic secondary school in Southwark, south London, and Jubilee Primary School, in Lambeth, south London.
9. She was first elected as Member of Parliament for Saffron Walden on 8 June 2017 and is also the first woman to represent that constituency.
10. She became a vice-chair of the Conservative Party in January 2018, a role that put her in charge of selecting candidates for the 2022 general election.
11. She voted for Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit withdrawal agreement in early 2019.
12. Badenoch was appointed the new junior minister for children and Families by Boris Johnson, the UK Prime Minister, in July 2019.
13. She is married to Hamish Badenoch and they have two daughters and a son.
14. Kemi Badenoch was Minister of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities between 16 September 2021 and 6 July 2022.
15. She was Minister of State (Minister for Equalities) in the Government Equalities Office between 14 February 2020 and July 2022.
16. She was previously Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury from 13 February 2020 to 15 September 2021 and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Education from 27 July 2019 to 13 February 2020.
