UK politician and Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has made clear her detachment from her Nigerian heritage in a media appearance that is stirring significant online debate.
Speaking on GB News, Badenoch stated unequivocally, “My main identity is as British. That is what I see myself as.” She was responding to backlash over a BBC headline that suggested she disavowed her Nigerian roots.
“Nigeria is a nationality. It’s not an ethnicity,” she said. “There’s no such language as Nigerian. There are lots of different ethnic groups there.”
This isn’t her first time expressing such views. On the Rosebud podcast earlier this month, she revealed she has not held a Nigerian passport for over two decades. “I’m Nigerian through ancestry, by birth, despite not being born there because of my parents,” she said. “But by identity I’m not really.”
Badenoch’s family background is rooted in Nigeria, but she was born in Wimbledon in 1980 and returned to the UK at age 16 after living in both Nigeria and the United States.
On the expectations of public office holders, she commented, “If you’re a politician, you need to be 100% focused on British issues.” She added, “Every day, I see loads of Labour MPs in particular talking about every other country except the UK.”
Her remarks have reignited conversations about national identity, integration, and the expectations of politicians with multicultural backgrounds.