Kemi Badenoch, leader of the UK Conservative Party, says critics who question her rise to the top are relying on racist tropes.
Speaking during an interview with The Times, Badenoch said some persons within and outside the party believe she only became leader due to a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policy.
DEI refers to policies and practices designed to ensure fair treatment, equal access, and representation of historically under-represented groups, especially in leadership.
“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 is hysterical,” she said.
“People used to talk about Trump derangement syndrome. I think there’s a Kemi derangement syndrome.”
She added that critics often dismiss her success with the remark: “How could she possibly have done this? It must have been DEI”.
Badenoch said her critics resort to racist tropes, portraying black people as “lazy, corrupt or all DEI hires” — a notion she described as “extraordinary” since she takes “everyone at face value”.
The 45-year-old politician, who grew up in Nigeria before moving to the UK at the age of 16, said she is also targeted online with racist rhetoric.
She noted that Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary who lost to her in the leadership race, was not behind the speculation.
“There’s a whole swathe of stuff online: 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’. People who used these tropes were trying to tell a story about me that is wholly untrue and which everyone around me knows is untrue,” she said.
“I think even Rob himself finds it distressing, but it’s just something that we deal with.”
Last year, Prime Minister Keir Starmer led the Labour Party to victory, ending 14 years of Conservative rule in the UK.
Badenoch’s leadership has come under scrutiny as speculation grows that the Tories might replace her due to poor ratings.