Not All Cultures Are “Equally Valid”, Kemi Badenoch In Bold Push for Anti Immigration Votes

Kemi Badenoch, one of the Conservative Party politicians vying to replace former Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, as the leader of the British Conservative Party, on Sunday during an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation made the potentially controversial statement that not all cultures are “equally valid”.

She is due to address the Conservative Party annual conference that is taking place between the 29th of September and 2nd of October 2024 as one of the four remaining contenders for Tory Party leadership.

Immigration will be the most important issue when Conservative Party members vote to choose the next leader of the party between  between 15 October and 31 October 2024. The race to succeed Rishi Sunak as party leader started on 29 July with six candidates including Kemi Badenoch throwing their hats in to the ring.

Kemi Badenoch, 44, known for being outspoken, appeared to be targeting Muslim immigrants during her interview. BBC interviewer Laura Kuenssberg challenged her to specify which cultures she believes are not ‘equally valid.'”

Ms Badenoch replied, “You want me to say ‘Muslims’, but it isn’t all Muslims. I’m not going to play that game.” She however cited an example of a cultural practice she considers “invalid”, narrating how a woman answered the door when she was out campaigning and said, “I can’t speak to you, I will get my husband.”

According to Badenoch, “cultures where women are told that they should not work” are not “as equally valid as our culture.”

Kemi Badenoch once said that growing up in Nigeria proved to her that socialism means “poverty and broken dreams”, explaining that she paid her way through university in the UK by “flipping burgers and cleaning loos” in McDonald’s.  She said that her experience taught her that “hard work and honest endeavour can take you anywhere”.

Badenoch was born in London but spent her childhood in Nigeria, returning to live in London at the age of 16.

A Lurch for the Anti Immigration Vote: Kemi Badenoch Versus Robert Jenrick 

On September 4, Conservative Party Members of Parliament reduced the six contenders  for leadership to 4 in the second round of voting to elect a new party leader; Kemi Badenoch emerged one the four remaining contenders along with  James Cleverly, the shadow Home Secretary, Robert Jenrick, a former Minister of State for Immigration, and Tom Tugendhat, shadow Minister for Security. Tory MPs will select the final two candidates from these four in two further rounds of voting on  9-10 October from whom party members will elect the new Conservative Party leader.

Cleverly and Tugendhat are the moderates in the race while Jenrick is the most rightwing and most anti-immigration.  He had served in the Rishi Sunak cabinet as a junior Minister for Immigration but  resigned over “strong disagreements” with the government’s controversial plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda while their application is being processed. This plan was widely considered illiberal and extreme but Jenrick argued that it did not go far enough in tackling illegal immigration.

Kemi Badenoch and 42 year old Robert Jenrick are the favourites to emerge party leader, with betting markets making Jenrick the clear bookmaker’s choice. Robert Jenrick had said ahead of the Tory Party conference that immigration was the most important issue to Tory Party members, ahead of the economy and healthcare. Badenoch’s statement on cultures that are less valid is thus clearly an attempt to boost her anti-immigration credentials.