UK Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has revealed that she no longer identifies as Nigerian, stating her sense of belonging lies firmly in the United Kingdom. Speaking on the Rosebud podcast hosted by former MP Gyles Brandreth, Badenoch said that although she is Nigerian “through ancestry,” she does not identify as such, having spent most of her adult life in Britain.
Born in the UK, Badenoch spent her early years in both Nigeria and the United States before returning to the UK at age 16. Her return, she said, was driven by Nigeria’s worsening political and economic conditions. “It was that my parents thought: ‘There is no future for you in this country,’” she told the podcast.
Badenoch noted that she has not renewed her Nigerian passport since the early 2000s and had to apply for a visa when she visited Nigeria following her father’s death. “I don’t identify with it anymore,” she stated. “Most of my life has been in the UK and I’ve just never felt the need to.”
Her comments have reignited a conversation about national identity, migration, and belonging. Last year, Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima accused Badenoch of “denigrating” the West African nation after she said she grew up amid fear and insecurity, referencing corruption and hardship in Nigeria during her childhood. Badenoch, however, maintains her views are shaped by lived experience, including witnessing the inefficiencies of socialism firsthand.
Despite her disassociation from her country of heritage, Badenoch emphasized her continued interest in Nigerian affairs, saying she knows the country well and maintains familial ties.
The senior Tory, known for her firm stance on British identity and conservative values, also said she has not experienced racism in the UK in any “meaningful form,” which influences her defence of the country against such accusations. “What I found actually quite interesting was that people didn’t treat me differently,” she explained.
Badenoch’s remarks highlight the complex intersections of heritage, lived experience, and personal identity in today’s globalized political landscape.
