UK's PM Race: Kemi Badenoch eliminated from the contest
Rishi Sunak Tops Latest Round In British PM Race, Contest Down To Three
Rishi Sunak received 118 votes in the fourth round of voting by his party colleagues, just shy of the 120-mark needed to confirm his place as one of the final contenders in the race.
With lawmaker Kemi Badenoch eliminated from the contest, it is now down to three contenders. Keni received 59 votes, adding one vote to 58 votes she received on Monday.
Rishi Sunak increased his tally from Monday's 115.
Former UK Finance Minister Rishi Sunak won the latest round in the contest to replace British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday.
The British Indian former Chancellor received 118 votes in the fourth round of voting by his party colleagues, just shy of the 120-mark – or one-third of Conservative Party MPs – needed to confirm his place as one of the final contenders in the race to replace Boris Johnson.
Rishi Sunak increased his tally from Monday's 115, while Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt got 92 votes and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss 86 votes leaving the race to clinch second place still open.
Kemi Badenoch- Brief Bio
Kemi was born in 1980 in Wimbledon, London, to Nigerian parents, Badenoch spent parts of her childhood in Lagos and the United States before returning to the United Kingdom at 16. After graduating from the University of Sussex, she was a software engineer at Logica before studying law at Birkbeck, University of London. Badenoch later pursued a career in banking, working for the Royal Bank of Scotland Group and Coutts.
In 2012, Badenoch unsuccessfully contested a seat on the London Assembly, but was appointed to the body after Victoria Borwick resigned in 2015. A supporter of Brexit in the 2016 referendum, Badenoch was elected to the House of Commons in 2017. After Boris Johnson became Prime Minister in July 2019, Badenoch was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families. In the February 2020 reshuffle, she was appointed Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities. In September 2021, she was promoted to Minister of State for Equalities and appointed Minister of State for Local Government, Faith and Communities. In July 2022, Badenoch resigned from the government and has stood to replace Johnson in the 2022 Conservative Party leadership election. Badenoch came in fourth place on the first ballot in a field of eight candidates but was eliminated from the leadership contest on 19 July 2022, after receiving the lowest number of votes from Conservative MPs.
Considered to be on the political right of the Conservative Party, Badenoch has criticised "critical race theory" (CRT) and has been characterized as a social conservative and 'anti-woke' politician. As Minister of State for Equalities, Badenoch opposed plans by the Financial Conduct Authority to allow trans employees to self-identify in the workplace,and opposes gender neutral bathrooms in public buildings.
Personal life
Kemi is married to Hamish Badenoch; they have two daughters and a son. Hamish works for Deutsche Bank and was a Conservative councillor from 2014 to 2018 on Merton Borough Council, representing Wimbledon Village. He also unsuccessfully contested Foyle for the Northern Ireland Conservatives at the 2015 general election. Badenoch was a board member of the Charlton Triangle Homes housing association until 2016, and was also a school governor at St Thomas the Apostle College in Southwark, and the Jubilee Primary School.
Badenoch describes herself as a cultural Christian and notes that her maternal grandfather was a Methodist minister in Nigeria. Badenoch's father Femi died in February 2022 and she took bereavement leave from her ministerial duties for a brief period.