Badenoch Condemns Racist Attacks, Rejects Leadership Plot Rumours in UK Conservative Party

United Kingdom Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has spoken candidly about the surge of racist abuse directed at her since she became the first Black woman to head the party.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Badenoch described a torrent of personal attacks both on social media and, to a lesser extent, from within her own party branding the hostility “Kemi derangement syndrome.” She said a small group of critics have questioned her competence because of her race and ethnicity, reflecting a broader rise in ethno-nationalist rhetoric online.

“There’s a certain cadre of people who clearly can’t cope with the fact that I won this, and I’m doing it,” Badenoch said. “The level of personal attacks from anonymous people is hysterical. Not even just from MPs… maybe two or three out of 120. That’s nothing. But online as well, people used to talk about Trump derangement syndrome; I think there’s a Kemi derangement syndrome: ‘How could she possibly have done this?’”

Born in Wimbledon to Nigerian parents and raised in Nigeria before returning to the UK at 16, Badenoch has previously called Britain “the best place in the world to be Black.” Yet she acknowledged that the level of vitriol has grown since her election to the top Tory post.

“I always try to think of every possible explanation before I go to race and racism. That is a healthy way to run a society,” she said. “But there are people who will throw whatever kind of mud they can and hope it sticks.”

The 44-year-old leader also faces speculation of internal dissent as the Conservatives prepare for their annual party conference. Opinion polls currently put the party’s support at just 17 percent, and reports suggest shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick could be exploring a leadership challenge.

Badenoch dismissed the rumours as “wishful thinking” and “sour grapes,” accusing opponents of treating politics as a personal contest rather than a responsibility to citizens.

“When I hear those things, I can tell those people are not focused on the country at all,” she said. “Many of those people having those conversations think this is a game. But the lives of people in this country aren’t a game.”

Despite the mounting pressures, Badenoch is preparing for her first party conference speech as leader, vowing to steer the Conservatives through turbulent political waters while refusing to be distracted by personal attacks or internal manoeuvring.