Kemi Badenoch has just become the new Conservative party leader, defeating Robert Jenrich by 12,418 votes. But what does her victory mean?
A shift to the Right
Badenoch represents a shift to the right for the Conservatives. In her pamphlet ‘Conservatism in Crisis’ she heavily expresses her desire for a more ‘capital C’ Conservative party. She writes ‘It will take time to develop an agenda as radical as the Thatcher agenda was fifty years ago.’ This ‘new type of politics’ is a simple way of stating that Badenoch wants to see the return of a strongly neoliberal Conservative party. Cutting back the welfare state and pushing for traditional conservative values would push more people into poverty, and certainly represents a step backwards for vulnerable communities.
If wealth really does trickle down, then where is it? After 14 years of Conservative austerity cuts, the BBC have reported that 12 million people (18%) are now in absolute poverty, meaning their basic necessities are not met. A quarter of children in the UK are currently experiencing absolute poverty, the highest since the 1990’s.
Pushing for a ‘Culture War’
Her strong conservative values have pushed a ‘culture war’ narrative, continuing on from previous Conservative leaders who also perpetuated this idea. Badenoch is advancing the harmful rhetoric surrounding worries regarding transgender children, mental health diagnoses, race, and traditional nuclear family values.
Badenoch ‘beefs’ The Badger
Kemi Badenoch studied Computer Systems Engineering at the University of Sussex, and gained her Master of Engineering degree in 2003. She targeted the “stupid lefty white kids” she felt that she encountered during her time at university. In 2000, she wrote a letter to The Badger that relayed her strong opinions and poor impressions of the paper and her peers, blaming The Badger for causing her conservative values with its apparently repetitive articles and opinions.
She wrote: “I must point out that I am a poor, black, female, gay (Okay, I’m not but I did think about it once) disabled if you count the myopia (near-sightedness), Christian student. I have also been called ‘forrin’. You couldn’t get more minorities into one person like that if you tried.”
Badenoch has since stated that she was ‘middle class’ but became ‘working class’ when she temporarily had to get a part time job at McDonalds.
Maternity pay
In the 14 week leadership contest, Badenoch made some controversial statements, saying that ‘maternity pay is excessive’ and that people need to take more ‘personal responsibility.’ According to the BBC, ‘Statutory maternity pay starts at 90% of average weekly earnings for six weeks – then falls to the lowest of either £184.03 or 90% of the mother’s average salary for 33 weeks.’
But this is just the tip of the iceberg …
Ableist comments
Badenoch came under fire for stating that people with Autism and other disabilities have ‘economic advantages’ and ‘protections.’ She also wrote ‘as a child, you may well get better treatment or equipment at school – even transport to and from home.’ This describes specialist equipment and transportation which is vital to children who need learning adjustments. This ableist view continues as she criticises the fact that ‘If you are in the workforce, you are protected in employment terms from day 1, you can require your employer to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to your job.’
Well Kemi, those adjustments are called reasonable adjustments for a reason, because they are reasonable. Allowing disabled individuals to have adjustments in the workplace and in the education system does not take away the rights of anyone else or even impact others. This is a blatant attack on disabled people, specifically picking on those with autism as she claims autism is a ‘much-abused diagnosis for a huge number who are somewhere on a spectrum we’re all on.’
Another article you may like: Disabled Students Not Receiving Necessary Adjustments
Banning transwomen from women’s spaces
Shockingly, Badenoch has also vowed to change the 2010 Equality Act in order to ban transgender women from ‘women and girls spaces.’ And has expressed her beliefs that under 18’s ‘cannot be transgender.’ These harmful and transphobic statements suggest the Conservatives have chosen to shift politically further to the right. Transgender women deserve the same rights to women’s spaces as any other woman, not just out of kindness but also for their own safety. Trans-inclusive policies are not a safety risk, and exclusionary policies put transgender people in danger of violence. Trans women are women, they are safest in women’s bathrooms, and they deserve access to spaces for the gender that they identify as.
Systematic racism in the UK
While serving as equalities minister, Badenoch said it was ‘against the law’ for schools to teach what she calls “Critical Race Theory”. This is the academic theory that race is a culturally constructed idea, racism is real and systemic, and that intersectionality exists. She has also supported the Sewell report, which denied the existence of institutional racism in Britain. In January 2023 UN Human Rights experts stated that ‘systematic racism within the UK’s criminal justice system was a serious concern.’ Furthermore in 2023 a 363 page report by Louise Casey, commissioned by the MET police, found that the MET Police was still found to be institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic, years after the McPherson report which concluded the same thing.
So…
Kemi, if you read this, The Badger is still proudly full of ‘woke lefties’ who will support and stand up for the rights of all minority groups, including transgender and neurodivergent individuals. You may not like us, but we don’t like you either.