Kemi Badenoch, leader of the British Conservative Party has a lot on her plate these days, beyond any bric-a-brac with Nigerian politicians who think she should be more ‘Nigerian’, or the rumpus generated by a ‘Professor’ newspaper columnist who has opined, bizarrely, based on tendentious historicity, that she cannot claim a Yoruba identity separate from Northern Nigeria because even the name ‘Yoruba’ does not belong to the Yoruba, as it was bestowed on them by ‘The North’, who have insinuated themselves so deeply into their fabric that they do not have a distinct history and identity of their own, really.
“Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing Reform Party, recently accused Kemi of calling him a liar over his claim that his party now has more members than the Conservative Party.”
The Conservative Party is in the middle of an existential crisis, and the election of Kemi Badenoch as its leader is both an expression of that crisis, and an intentional ‘survival strategy’ against it. The pot that was simmering at the time Kemi was elected, is now boiling over.
At stake is not just the future of the Conservative Party, but the nature and identity of the United Kingdom itself. The fire of that existential battle is being stoked by events both within the United Kingdom and outside of it.
Dr Tunde Gbolade, a retired Obstetrician and Gynaecologist in Leeds who once served his local Conservative Party as representative for Wetherby and Esingwold is emphatic about why ‘they’, meaning the grassroots Conservative movement across the nation, were always certain that Kemi was the leader they wanted.
‘She says it as it is. She says what they are thinking, but is too afraid, or too nice, to say.’
‘They’, in this latter context, refers not just to other politicians of a Conservative bent, but a majority of the British public.
There have been a few items in the news lately which illustrate the disquiet behind the scenes.
Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing Reform Party, recently accused Kemi of calling him a liar over his claim that his party now has more members than the Conservative Party. He has threatened to take her to court.
The Conservative Party is the party of the British establishment, and the embodiment of its essence and values, including its Monarchy.
Even before the public face-off, Kemi met with some broadcasters, including the operators of GB News, a Conservative News channel, to complain that the media were giving ‘too much coverage’ to Farage.
Read also: Nigeria’s Kemi Badenoch waits to see if she will become opposition leader in Britain
There was a widespread view that Kemi, shooting from the hip and taking no prisoners as usual, was playing into Farage’s hands, and would have done better by ignoring him.
The history of party politics in the UK is a long and tortuous one. The most relevant portion may be traced to 1784 when William Pitt the Younger emerged as the leader of a Tory Party which represented the interests of merchant classes and country gentry, while a Whig Party led by Charles James Fox represented religious dissenters and industrialists who were interested in parliamentary reforms. The Labour Party is of more recent provenance.
The Conservative Party and its antecedents have been involved in the ebb and flow of conflict and upheavals that eventually resulted in Britain’s ‘Constitutional Monarchy’.
‘Right-of-Centre’ Conservatives regard themselves as owners and defenders of the land. In modern times, they have had such colourful leaders as Margaret Thatcher, ‘the Iron Lady’, who pushed the party right-wards, but also broadened its appeal by extending property ownership ambition and reality to the working class.
Nigel Farage has been leader of the Reform Party since June 2024 and has overseen a rapid rise in the fortunes of the party, drawing members mostly from Conservative ranks.
Though the Conservative Party is currently in opposition, its leadership is supposed to have a natural affinity with Republicans in the USA. Kemi visited the USA after the Trump victory, but did not get to Mar-a-Lago, and was only able to interface with incoming Vice President Vance.
And Kemi is yet to enjoy a required cosy relationship with techie Trump influencer Elon Musk, who favours Farage’s Reform. There was a rumour that he would boost the party with a donation of ‘hundreds of millions of pounds.’ Such a massive infusion, coupled with an anticipated Trump bounce, might catalyse Reform to seize the mainstream, pushing the Conservatives aside, it was feared.
Musk has lately played down the rumour.
There is a lot of disaffection under the surface in British society, and it is Kemi’s assignment to find the language to discuss and deal with delicate issues, which centre around intentional refusal of some minorities to integrate into British society and share its values, as immigrants to another land should. Rather they harbour a suspected ‘long game’ to ‘take over’. Some people speak longingly of a ‘London-istan’, citing the presence of Sharia and a growing number of mosques. There are illegal and unofficial ‘Muslim Patrols’ in Islington and some other parts of town, with posters on the walls instructing passing females to ‘dress properly’. There are police ‘No-Go’ areas.
It is Kemi’s mission to find the language, and the spine, to integrate British society around British values, and to ‘clean up’ and rescue those values from the contamination of the Left and the ‘Woke’. In that vision, the Labour government may only be an interregnum for her party to build the necessary structures. Current loud public discussion around Elon Musk’s condemnation of the UK government’s reluctance to name and face-off Pakistani groups who ‘groom’ young British girls for sexual assault may be a pointer to the inevitability of a post-Starmer Conservative era that has finally got its act together and is able to delineate Right-wing from Racism and commit the generality of Britons to a clearly defined ‘British-ness’.
It is a tall task, and Kemi’s table is creaking under the burden, as she ponders how to apply the right mix of ‘Fáriga’ – her fighting spirit, and ‘Làákàyè’ – a voice of calm reason. She was chosen for the task, and the die is cast.
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