The U.K.’s Conservative Party, also known as the Tories, do what they say they do.
They are essentially the British Republicans - emphasizing traditional values and being fiscally prudent.
In 2024, the Conservatives suffered their worst election loss in history, leading to a change in leadership.
Enter, Kemi Badenoch.
But since becoming the Conservative leader, Badenoch has wasted no time in getting embroiled in various controversies.
She is certainly no stranger to ruffling feathers.
In the 1990s, when Badenoch was growing up in her ancestral homeland, the country’s economy collapsed.
This meant her father was out of work and her mother became the chief breadwinner.
There were so many things I hadn’t done before.
I’d never been on a bus.
And I thought London buses were so futuristic because the doors made a swish noise when you got on.
It was like living in a movie."
There’s no doubt that Badenoch must have been extremely strong-willed at this point in her life.
She continued, “I call it the soft bigotry of low expectations.
The poverty of low ambition.
Why do you want to study medicine you’ve got the option to do this other thing instead?
Because they didn’t care.”
“A lot of people in the U.K. think that it was like a summer job or something.”
And that instinctively made me think, ‘These are not my people.'"
The University of Sussex, Badenoch’s alma mater, is famed for its left-wing politics.
Safe to say, Badenoch was not in the majority in (or outside of) her university.
Typically, a politician would answer by reeling off policy points or giving a potted summary of their CV.
“The most significant thing, which I don’t often talk about, is that my dad died.
Right at the beginning of 2022.”
Badenoch was knocked out in the fourth round (of six) in July 2022.
As the saying goes, it’s always darkest before the dawn.
In a post onX(formerly Twitter), Dorries added clarity to the accusations she leveled at Badenoch.
“Kemi didn’t need the help.
It was likely an incredibly frightening time for Badenoch.
But Dorries' book was just the tip of the iceberg for the vicious attacks Badenoch would face.
To have unproven allegations thrown her way at the most pivotal juncture of her political career is devastating.
Intolerable behaviour I would not stand for.”
Indeed, Badenoch’s career was put in a precarious position because of such claims.
She was able to bounce back, though, but that didn’t put an end to her tragedy.
Kemi Badenoch had a lot on her plate to get the party back to its former glory.
There’s a tragedy in achieving big in her career at the wrong time.
Honest about the fact that we made mistakes, honest about the fact that we let standards slip.
The time has come to tell the truth" (via theGuardian).
The universe works in mysterious ways and Badenoch suffered from being in the right place at the wrong time.
It’s one of those situations where you just have to say, “That’s life.”
