Kemi Badenoch has said she is shocked by the level of racist abuse she has faced since becoming the first Black woman to lead the Conservative Party.
In an interview with the Sunday Times, Badenoch disclosed that she had received a barrage of personal attacks, both online and from a few MPs, which she described as “Kemi derangement syndrome.”
She explained that much of the hostility questioned her achievements on the grounds of race and ethnicity. “There’s a certain cadre of people who clearly can’t cope with the fact that I won this, and I’m doing it. The level of personal attacks from anonymous people it’s hysterical. Not even just from MPs. I actually don’t think it’s that many MPs.
“I think it’s two to three people out of 120. That’s nothing. But online as well. People used to talk about Trump derangement syndrome. I think there’s a Kemi derangement syndrome: ‘How could she possibly have done this?’” she said.
On social media, she pointed to the rise of ethno-nationalist rhetoric. “There’s a lot of ethno-nationalism creeping up, lots of stuff about my race and my ethnicity and the tropes around, ‘well, she couldn’t possibly have done this all by herself,’” she noted.
Born in Wimbledon and raised in Nigeria before returning to the UK at 16, Badenoch has in the past distanced herself from her Nigerian roots. She insisted she does not immediately see race in every criticism.
The Sunday Times quoted her as saying, “I always try to think of every possible explanation before I go to race and racism. I think that is a healthy way to run a society.
Read also: Did Kemi Badenoch misstate Nigerian law? Here’s what the constitution actually says
“I remember when I stood up a few years ago and said Britain is not a racist country,ethnic minorities do very well here, it is white working-class boys who are actually struggling on a lot of metrics, and I got pilloried for that.
“My view is that there are people out there who will say whatever it is, they will throw whatever kind of mud at you, and they will hope that it sticks.”
As she prepares for her first party conference speech, Badenoch also faces leadership challenges, with speculation around shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick positioning himself. But with the Conservatives polling at 17 per cent, she dismissed the talk as “wishful thinking” and “sour grapes.”
“When I hear those things, I can tell those people are not focused on the country at all. Many of those people having those conversations think this is a game. But the lives of people in this country aren’t a game,” she said.
