Blue Ambition: The Unauthorised Biography of Kemi Badenoch

BOOK OF THE WEEK, THE TIMES
During the Conservative Party leadership contest in the summer of 2022, Kemi Badenoch made an immediate impression on the public as a politician with robust views and a strong personality. Although only a junior minister at the time, she was marked out as a rising star and, having survived the race until the fourth ballot, even as a potential future leader. From September 2022, she served in the Cabinets of Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, combining her post as Secretary of State for Business and Trade with that of Minister for Women and Equalities.
Badenoch’s centre-right instincts and admiration for Margaret Thatcher have helped to guarantee that her popularity among the grassroots of her party remains high, yet her background is unusual by Westminster’s standards. Born in London and raised in Nigeria, she describes herself as ‘to all intents and purposes a first-generation immigrant’. She returned to Britain aged sixteen to sit her A-levels and forged a career in banking before entering the House of Commons as the MP for Saffron Walden in 2017.
So what makes Badenoch tick? How did she achieve Cabinet rank so quickly? And what would be the implications for the direction of the Conservative Party if she did become its leader?