Conservative Party Leader Badenoch Says Attacks on Her Heritage Won’t Work
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has condemned what she called racist attacks on her Nigerian heritage, after a former senior aide to Reform UK leader Nigel Farage described her as a “Nigerian scammer” on social media.
Badenoch responded on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Thursday, following a series of posts on X by Raheem Kassam, a former Farage aide and ex-editor-in-chief of Breitbart News. Kassam called her an “unrelenting scammer” and claimed she used her Nigerian background to advance her career. Badenoch said Britain is not a racist country, so attempts to use her race against her would fail. She added that Reform politicians appear to think using her race could help their standing, and said the focus should be on improving people’s lives rather than personal attacks.
Reform UK has not condemned the remarks. Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick said it was not his place to police the tweets of party supporters. Farage said he did not think saying someone grew up in Nigeria was racist. He framed the dispute as a cultural argument over whether Badenoch regards herself as Nigerian or British. The Labour Party criticised Reform’s refusal to condemn the remarks.
Badenoch was born in London, spent part of her childhood in Nigeria and became Conservative leader in November 2024. The row comes as Reform UK tries to win over voters who previously backed the Conservatives.
