Olukemi Olufunto Badenoch (/ˈbeɪdnɒk/ BAYD-nok; née Adegoke, 2 January 1980) is a British politician serving as the Secretary of State for International Trade, President of the Board of Trade and Minister for Women and Equalities since 2022.
What Does Kemi Badenoch Do?
She previously served as Minister of State for Local Government, Faith, and Communities and Minister of State for Equalities from 2021 to 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Saffron Walden since 2017.
In her maiden speech as an MP on 19 July, she described the vote for Brexit as “the greatest ever vote of confidence in the project of the United Kingdom” and cited her personal heroes as the Conservative politicians Winston Churchill, Airey Neave, and Margaret Thatcher.
In the same month, Badenoch was selected to join the 1922 Executive Committee. In September, she was appointed to the parliamentary Justice Select Committee. She was appointed as the Conservative Party’s Vice Chair for Candidates in January 2018.