Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has openly discussed her complex relationship with her Nigerian heritage. Speaking on former MP Gyles Brandreth's Rosebud podcast, Badenoch stated that while she is "Nigerian through ancestry," she is "by identity, I'm not really." This powerful admission sheds light on a personal journey that has profoundly shaped her political outlook and her public identity.
Badenoch, who was born in the UK, spent a significant portion of her childhood in Nigeria and the U.S. before returning to England at the age of 16. The reason for her return, she said, was a "very sad one": her parents had concluded that "There is no future for you in this country." She recalled a childhood where she "never quite feeling that I belonged there" and a return to the UK in 1996 that was met with a sense of homecoming, "thinking: this is home." It is these formative experiences, she explained, that have shaped her political philosophy, including "why I don't like socialism."
While her connection to the country remains, her identity has evolved. Badenoch, who has not renewed her Nigerian passport since the early 2000s, explained her reasoning simply: "I don't identify with it anymore. Most of my life has been in the UK and I've just never felt the need to." This statement underscores a feeling of belonging that she attributes to her experience in the UK, where she says she has not experienced "racial prejudice... in any meaningful form." This positive experience is why she says she is "so quick to defend the UK whenever there are accusations of racism."
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Her comments, however, are not without a history of controversy. Late last year, Badenoch faced criticism for saying she had grown up in fear and insecurity in Nigeria at a time it was plagued by corruption. This drew a sharp rebuke from Nigeria's vice-president, Kashim Shettima, who said his government was "proud" of her "in spite of her efforts at denigrating her nation of origin." A spokesperson for Badenoch quickly rebuffed the criticism at the time.
Her recent interview provides a deeper context to these past events, revealing a personal story that is more about a journey of identity than a political statement. Badenoch maintains that she knows Nigeria "very well," has "a lot of family there," and is "very interested in what happens there." However, she concluded with a poignant thought, that for her, "home is where my now family is." Her candid remarks offer a unique insight into the complex intersection of personal history, national identity, and political perspective.
