Kemi Badenoch: The one person who can beat Keir Starmer or too much of a risk?

While her supporters praise her for being ‘straight-talking’, she has also been accused of making enemies far too easily

Kemi Badenoch has previously declared herself “the one person that can beat Keir Starmer”. And now she is close to becoming the prime minister’s direct opponent in politics after reaching the final head-to-head in the Conservative Party leadership election against Robert Jenrick.

Her allies say she is straight-talking and has the proven Conservative credentials to win back disillusioned voters. But can she win the support of party members?

She has been accused of making enemies too easily. And after a number of slip-ups throughout the campaign trail there are some concerns the former business secretary is too much of a risk of controversy to lead the Tory party to victory.

Ms Badenoch has defined herself as the “culture war” candidate after dedicating herself to anti-woke policies. Over the years, she has regularly taken aim at gender identity services and used her Tory party conference platform to reject critical race theory.

Earlier this year she even found herself in a public row with Doctor Who actor David Tennant, who is a vocal trans rights advocate, after he said he wished she “did not exist anymore”.

Kemi Badenoch previously said she is ‘the one person that can beat Keir Starmer’ (AP)

She is a small-state Conservative who has put free market values towards the centre of her campaign, in July firing the starting gun with a declaration that capitalism is not a “dirty word”. Her campaign, Renewal 2030, has been centred around returning the Tory party to its “first principles”.

Earlier this year, the former business secretary was forced to dismiss accusations that she bullied civil service staff, saying the allegations were “smears” against her.

One insider on the right of the party warned it would “be like Liz Truss round two,” referencing the ex-prime minister’s 49-day stint in office. “Even if she wins, she won’t be fighting the next general election,” they added.

Ms Badenoch’s time at the Conservative Party Conference - seen as a “beauty pageant” for the leadership candidates to parade themselves in front of members - did not help to assuage concerns.

She sparked widespread criticism after suggesting maternity pay in the UK was excessive, as well as raising eyebrows with her suggestion that as many as 50,000 civil servants “should be in prison”.

But her speech to close the four-day trial of strength for the leadership contenders appeared to remind watchers of Ms Badenoch’s strength as an orator, and her commitment to conservative values.

To many, the speech reminded members that Ms Badenoch has long been a shining star of the Tory party.

Kemi Badenoch served as international trade secretary before taking up her role business and trade secretary (AP)

Born in London to a GP and a physiology professor, Ms Badenoch lived in both the US and Nigeria as a child before returning to the UK at age 16.

After starting her career at the Royal Bank of Scotland and private bank Coutts, in 2005 she joined the Conservative Party aged 25. 

While she failed in her first bid to become an MP, losing to Labour’s Tessa Jowell in Dulwich and West Norwood, in 2015 she joined the London Assembly where she served as the London Tory spokesperson for the economy.

One year after backing the Vote Leave campaign in 2016 - later describing the Brexit vote as “the greatest ever vote of confidence in the project of the United Kingdom” - she won the safe seat of Saffron Walden in Essex. Since then, she has been tipped for big things in the party.

Under the previous government, she served as international trade secretary before taking up her role as business and trade secretary. And in 2022, she made her first attempt at leading the party, pitching herself as a “fresh face” to take over from Boris Johnson.

While her first leadership bid failed, her ambition did not. With just one month left to go in this year’s contest, Ms Badenoch will attempt to persuade members that she is the right person to succeed Rishi Sunak and lead the party into the next election.

After James Cleverly’s shock exit on Wednesday, both candidates are appealing to members on the right of the party.

Mr Jenrick is seen to be the less abrasive choice, but he also appears to be less ideologically committed than Ms Badenoch - who will be attempting to persuade voters that her straight-talking nature is not a liability, but an asset.