British politician and Leader of the Opposition to the British Government (born 1980).
The repetition of the victimhood narrative is really poisonous for young people because they hear it and believe it.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
Growing up in Nigeria I saw real poverty - I experienced it, including living without electricity and doing my homework by candlelight, because the state electricity board could not provide power, and fetching water in heavy, rusty buckets from a bore-hole a mile away, because the nationalised water company could not get water out of the taps.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
In the papers, they were talking about how 'Friends' is now sort of really homophobic, transphobic and so on. That, for me, is a very, very - it's actually a puritanical position, which I think of as conservative.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
The truth is I don't want my baby out in the freezing cold just because there's an election. But there is no such thing as maternity leave in an election. You can't tell the voters, 'Sorry, I am looking after my baby.' It's part of the deal.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
We do not want to see teachers teaching their white pupils about white privilege and inherited racial guilt.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
What we are against is the teaching of contested political ideas as if they are accepted facts. We don't do this with communism. We don't do this with socialism. We don't do this with capitalism.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
Before any decision is made on proposals for ending conversion therapy we must understand the problem, the range of options available and the impact they would have.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
I wish the private sector worked as hard at explaining its importance as much as the public sector.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
For many immigrant groups, lack of trust in authority is something they actually bring from the countries they come from.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
We want a broad pipeline of people coming through, we want to have a huge variety of people who are applying to become Conservative MPs.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
As a British woman, I now have the great honour of delivering that project for my constituents in the greatest Parliament on earth.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
I was unlucky enough to grow up under a military dictatorship which had very Left-wing, socialist policies. It's not something I would wish on anyone.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
I've been out of work myself and hated it. Any work, even on a minimum wage, is better than none.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
We've got gay marriage, and civil partnerships, so what are transsexuals looking for?Kemi Badenoch
Copy
Every party conference season, I'm struck by how much is spent on lobbying by the public affairs industry.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
I had a very tough upbringing. We all had to do something called 'manual labour.' Mostly it meant getting up at 5 A.M. and cutting grass endlessly.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
Our history is our own; it's not America's. Too often, those who campaign against racial inequality import wholesale a narrative and assumptions that have nothing to do with this country's history and have no place on these islands.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
When my husband and I are getting into a taxi, I always stop the taxi and say where I want to go. My husband jumps in the car and says, 'This is where we are going.' That's the same when men and women approach wanting to become a candidate.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
Both my parents are Nigerian, but my mother worked internationally so when she travelled so did the kids.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
To be honest, I think Black History Month, it's become much bigger than it used to be because a lot of people are doing different things, different things with it. It's an American import, which hasn't always fitted exactly with what I would call British and Commonwealth history.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
Simple language, simple ideas and a positive vision for the future - this holy trinity holds the key to unlocking the next generation.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
I don't think every offensive comment is racism. But when I see real prejudice I have to call it out.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
I have a huge problem with calling young people snowflakes. We shouldn't be doing that.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
Lumping everyone together in a group as a proxy for 'not white' is not how we deal with things from a health perspective.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
There are few countries in the world where you can go in one generation from immigrant to parliamentarian.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
If you are a young person then social media means a lot more to you then if you are older.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
We're quick to complain about racism, sexism, homophobia, but it's not as bad as people make out. If we're going to be more cohesive, we have to be more relaxed about petty incidents and not find insult where none exists.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
My experiences led me to the Conservative Party which embodied my belief in helping everyone reach their potential regardless of their background.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
Don't let Labour's stereotypes and low expectations hold you back, and never let them treat you like a black sheep who will always follow them.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
The truth is that our freedoms are being subtly eroded in an era where emotion and sentiment are prized above reason and rationality.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
Too often black people are confronted with an assumption that there is only one way to be black, and that anyone who doesn't conform is a 'coconut' an 'Uncle Tom' (or as Ms Dent Coad stated in her blog, a 'token'). It implies we are too stupid to understand what it means to be conservative, or are race traitors.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
Friends' was the biggest television series of all time. Everybody loved it, it was syndicated all around the world. The idea that in a few years people are talking about it as if it's this horrific series, for me that just doesn't compute.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
On the history of black people in Britain, again, our history of race is not America's history of race.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
Everyone had their own machete. Because that's how you cut grass in Africa. There were no lawn mowers. We had to tend our own patches. I still feel as if I have got the blisters.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
My children are mixed race. I want them to think: 'This is our country, our father's family has been here for thousands of years.'Kemi Badenoch
Copy
Some schools have decided to openly support the anti-capitalist Black Lives Matter group - often fully aware that they have the statutory duty to be politically impartial.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
I want people to realise we're not just stuffy aristocrats and Old Etonians. There are black Tories and lots of middle and working-class people of different skin colour who are Conservatives.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
When talking about Venezuela, Jeremy Corbyn's questionable track record, free markets and so on we assume that people know what we mean without any explanation or comment on how we could do it better. These assumptions switch people off and dilute the message. Ditch them, I say.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
In order to defend freedom of expression, we each need to exercise personal responsibility. We need to make good choices about how we behave, based not on fear of strong legal repercussion or fear of the mob, but out of respect for ourselves and others.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
I have already sent advice to candidates and what I have said was 'be aware that your social media profile is now fair game, you can't expect people not to take it into account. Think about what you say and how you say it when you use social media.'Kemi Badenoch
Copy
We should honour the memory of past members like Airey Neave by treating each other and the institution of parliament itself with more respect. Nobody should denigrate it for doing exactly what it should be doing - debating and arguing the most difficult and complex decisions of our time.Kemi Badenoch
Copy
It's not just about being free to marry who you want, you now want to have men using women's bathrooms.Kemi Badenoch
Copy