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Engineer, hacker and Ron DeSantis fan: five things about Kemi Badenoch | Kemi Badenoch

  • 1. She's an engineer – but not the kind who builds bridges

    During the campaign, Badenoch made much of her technical background, arguing that it allowed her to look at problems in an analytical way without being burdened by ideology. She's not wrong when she calls herself an engineer, but her bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Sussex were in computer systems engineering.

    She then worked as a software developer before expanding into the consulting and financial services industries. Badenoch could also call herself a lawyer, as she also completed a part-time Bachelor of Laws at Birkbeck University of London – but she tends to remain silent on the matter.

  • 2. She's a fan of Ron DeSantis and the feeling is mutual

    While Badenoch managed to portray herself as the more moderate of the final two candidates, she is an enthusiastic US-style culture warrior and has won the admiration of Ron DeSantis, the hardline Republican governor of Florida, against whom he has fought his own battles, the obvious ones Scourge of “woke” thinking, including a ban on many books from school libraries.

    DeSantis endorsed Badenoch as conservative leader, saying she raised “the flag of bold colors” of conservatism. The couple met when Badenoch was trade secretary, when DeSantis told a British newspaper that she told him she supported his policies, which included a number of policies aimed at LGBTQ+ communities.

    “She praised what we’re doing in Florida,” DeSantis said. “She has given assurances that this is exactly what they are trying to achieve in the UK.”

  • 3. Some of the fights she causes are strange and insignificant

    One of the things about Badenoch that is perhaps best known among voters is her willingness to throw herself into a fight, and some enjoy her combative approach. But some Tory MPs fear it could be too arbitrary.

    Perhaps the most striking example came in 2021, when the then relatively little-known equalities minister took to Twitter to insult a journalist for being “creepy and bizarre” by asking seemingly fairly routine questions. Boris Johnson's No 10 defended Badenoch, but privately a number of officials and MPs were perplexed.

  • 4. Sometimes it can take on the right-wing Tory party

    While Badenoch belongs to the populist side of her party by most definitions and, unlike Robert Jenrick, has always supported leaving the EU, she is not universally popular with the right-wing Brexit wing of the Conservatives.

    Some of this dates back to 2023, when Badenoch, as business minister, implemented a U-turn on his promise to scrap thousands of EU laws from the UK statute books by the end of the year. Badenoch presented this as pragmatism, but faced open anger from conservative Brexiteers such as Mark Francois.

    Some of the anger was simply a consequence of the decision, but part of it came from Badenoch's own actions, when he responded to an urgent House of Commons question on the issue with, as one observer put it, at times “astonishing rudeness”.

  • 5. She hacked Harriet Harman's website – and admitted it

    When politicians are asked in interviews to name the naughtiest thing they've ever done, they usually come up with a charming and understated anecdote about mild exuberance. When questioned, Badenoch admitted a possible breach of the Computer Misuse Act, an offense punishable by up to five years in prison.

    That was in 2018 when a video emerged of Badenoch responding to the question, in which the then-new MP said: “About ten years ago I hacked into a Labor MP's website and changed things there to put nice things about the Tories to say.” ”

    It emerged that she had published a fake post on Harriet Harman's website in 2008, claiming that Harman had supported Boris Johnson in the London mayoral election after guessing the website password. Luckily, Harman accepted her apology.

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