Introducing Kemi Badenoch, the New Leader of the UK Conservatives
Dec 14, 2024 10:00 am
By Hugh Fitzgerald
2 Comments
There was Margaret Thatcher. There was Winston Churchill. And now there is Kemi Badenoch, in the line of pro-Israel Conservative leaders. In the past, it was the Labour Party that gave more support to Israel, with such people as Richard Crossman and Prime Minister Harold Wilson. But no longer; now it is the Conservative Party that has supported the embattled Jewish state as it fights a seven-front war.
More on this remarkable figure, Kemi Badenoch, can be found here: “Leader of U.K. Conservative Party Kemi Badenoch showcases her pro-Israel bona fides,” by Lianne Kolirin, Jewish Insider, December 12, 2024:
Kemi Badenoch grew up in 1980s Lagos, Nigeria, a world away culturally, politically and economically from Israel. But when it comes to the Jewish state, the new leader of U.K.’s Conservative Party and the first Black woman to head a major political party in England, feels Israel “in her kishkes,” attests the man she has tapped as shadow attorney general, Lord David Wolfson.
“She sees Israel for what it is, which is a democratic, pluralist state with Western values, with an independent judiciary and fighting to maintain that society in a very tough neighborhood,” Wolfson told Jewish Insider.
It has been a busy few days for the 44-year-old Badenoch, newly returned from Canada and the U.S., where she met with a host of politicians and public figures on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, at a time when that “tough neighborhood” has been dramatically altered in large part by Israel’s military defeats of the Iran-backed terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah.
Badenoch replaced former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak when she was voted into the top job by Conservative Party members last month.
And although her party was decisively defeated in the country’s general election in July, Badenoch is wasting no time in building up her profile and influence. While in the U.S., she met with Vice President-elect J.D. Vance.
Vance, who will take office with President-elect Donald Trump on Jan. 20, posted a picture of himself and Badenoch in the U.S. on Sunday.
“Great to see the leader of the UK conservatives, ?@KemiBadenoch? during her trip to the US. We discussed many topics, but I was unable to persuade her that coffee is much better than tea. Cheers, Kemi!” Vance posted on X.
Badenoch was in Washington to attend the 2024 conference of the International Democracy Union (IDU), whose tagline is “the global movement of the center right.”
It was at the conference where Badenoch gave a rousing speech outlining her journey into politics, which earned her a standing ovation. Among those she met with were House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Pierre Poilievre, candidate for Canadian prime minister, and former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the latter of whom praised her speech as a “powerful message” supporting freedom and democracy….
So far, Keri Badench sounds awfully good to me. Early days, but possibly a Daniel come to judgement. Now she must win, and take the helm of the S.S. Narrenschiff, that Ship of Labourite Fools whose feckless crew need to be turned out, and the ship of state righted. |
