UK Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has said racist attacks targeting her Nigerian heritage will not work, following comments by a former aide to Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who described her as a “Nigerian scammer”.
Badenoch made the remarks during an interview with ITV’s Good Morning Britain after being asked about social media posts by Raheem Kassam, a former adviser to Farage, and Robert Jenrick’s refusal to condemn the comments.
Kassam had repeatedly attacked Badenoch on social media, describing her as a “Nigerian scammer” and warning people against giving her their credit card numbers and bank account details.
Responding to the comments, Badenoch suggested that Reform UK was using her racial background to improve its political standing.
“I think it just shows the sort of people they are,” she said.
“I keep telling people that Reform politicians are not like Conservative politicians, and I want the Reform voters who were Conservatives to come home.
“This is what they’re spending their time on. They’re not talking about how they’re going to make people’s lives better. They’re spending most of their time attacking me. You’d think that I was the prime minister.
“I think they think that maybe using my race is a way for them to improve their standing.
“Britain is not a racist country and because it’s not a racist country, their racist attacks and using my race as an attack form is not going to work.”
Badenoch also dismissed Jenrick, who recently defected from the Conservative Party to Reform UK, saying he was no longer her responsibility.
“He’s not one of my MPs. He’s not my problem anymore. He’s Nigel Farage’s problem,” she said.
However, Jenrick again declined to describe Kassam’s comments as racist when ITV asked him about the controversy.
He said the remarks were unpleasant and possibly rude but argued that it was not his responsibility to police the social media posts of people who might support Reform UK.
Jenrick also questioned Badenoch’s previous claim that she had received an offer from Stanford University at the age of 16 to undertake a pre-medical course.
Badenoch has maintained that she received the offer but said she no longer has the relevant documents after the Guardian questioned the claim.
Farage also avoided directly describing Kassam’s comments as racist during an earlier interview with BBC Breakfast.
“I don’t think saying somebody grew up in Nigeria is racist,” he said.
However, after further questioning, he acknowledged that the comments were excessive, although he said he did not believe they were intentionally racist.
The controversy comes amid wider tensions over race and national identity within Reform UK.
Former Conservative Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who also defected to Reform, recently sparked criticism after suggesting that only white people could be English.
Badenoch criticised Reform during a Conservative Party conference speech earlier this month, accusing the party of wanting to debate whether her mixed-race children were English.
Meanwhile, a Labour Party spokesperson criticised Jenrick for refusing to condemn the remarks against Badenoch.
“Calling out racism isn’t a matter of party politics. It’s about basic decency,” the spokesperson said.