Conservative Party Leader Kemi Badenoch: Embracing UK Identity Over Nigerian Roots

Conservative Party Leader Kemi Badenoch | Jonathan Brady/PA

LONDON, England  Kemi Badenoch, leader of the United Kingdoms Conservative Party and a prominent figure in British politics, says she no longer identifies with Nigeria, her ancestral country.

Speaking on the Rosebud podcast hosted by Gyles Brandreth, Badenoch reflected on her roots, her sense of identity, and how personal and political experiences have shaped her view of belonging.

I have not renewed my Nigerian passport; I think not since the early 2000s, she said.

I dont identify with it [Nigeria] anymore; most of my life has been in the UK, and Ive just never felt the need to.

Badenoch, 44, was born in the UK to Nigerian parents and spent part of her early life in Nigeria before returning to Britain as a teenager.

Despite her deep familial ties to Nigeria, she expressed a clear detachment from the country in terms of identity.

When my dad died I had to get a visa to go to Nigeria, she recounted.

Because Im Nigerian through ancestry, by birth despite not being born there because of my parents, but by identity Im not really.

While acknowledging that she remains engaged with Nigeria through family and ongoing interest in its affairs, Badenoch was unequivocal about where she considers home.

I know the country very well, I have a lot of family there, and Im very interested in what happens there, she said.

Home is where my now family is, and my now family is my children; its my husband and my brother and his children and in-laws. The Conservative Party is very much part of my familymy extended family, I call it.

Reflecting on her decision to permanently return to the UK at 16, Badenoch said her parents had grown disillusioned about the opportunities available to her in Nigeria at the time.

I think the reason that I came back here was actually a very sad one, and it was that my parents thought, There is no future for you in this country, she said.