Kemi Badenoch Joins British PM Race

Former British equalities minister, Kemi Badenoch, has launched a bid to become the next prime minister of the United Kingdom and leader of the Conservative Party, a declaration that has continued to attract public endorsements.

Ms Badenoch, who was born Olukemi Olufunto in Wimbledon, London to parents of Nigerian origin, joined the race to succeed scandal-dogged Prime Minister Boris Johnson as Conservative leader on Saturday.

She was one of the nearly 60 members of parliament and aides who quit last week after Johnson apologised for appointing a senior colleague facing sexual assault claims to a prominent role.

The UK prime minister was last forced to resign, although he said he would stay in office until his successor was appointed.

While announcing her bid for the UK’s top job in an article published in The Times newspaper, 42-year-old Badenoch and MP for Saffron Walden called for change, saying the British public was “exhausted by platitudes and empty rhetoric”.

“I’m putting myself forward in this leadership election because I want to tell the truth,” she said. “It’s the truth that will set us free.

“Without change the Conservative Party, Britain and the western world will continue to drift” and rivals will “outpace us economically and outmanoeuvre us internationally.”

Badenoch is in the race to become the next UK prime minister alongside Rishi Sunak, former chancellor; Sajid Javid, former health secretary; Ben Wallace, defence secretary; and Jeremy Hunt, former foreign secretary, among several others.

Her declaration has attracted a number of public endorsements, including by some members of the British parliament such as Neil O’Brien, MP for Harborough; Michael Gove, MP for Surrey Heath; and Gareth Bacon, MP for Orpington.

The new UK prime minister to replace the outgoing Boris Johnson will be announced on September 5, the ruling Conservative party said Monday, with 11 hopefuls currently vying for the job.

The influential 1922 Committee of non-ministerial Tory MPs in parliament on Monday outlined a timetable for the party’s leadership election.

Nominations will officially open and close on Tuesday, with a new prime minister set to be installed when parliament returns from the summer break on September 5, Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 Committee, told reporters.

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