Kemi Badenoch described herself as a “proud black Briton” on Wednesday as she criticised right-wing rivals who argue that only white people can be English.
In the most forceful section of her speech at the Conservative Party conference, the Tory leader accused Reform UK of trying to drag Britain backwards with outdated attitudes towards race and identity.
She also attacked Nigel Farage’s party as a movement of “weirdos” and criminals, while appealing to Reform voters to return to the Conservative fold.
Mrs Badenoch was speaking after former Cabinet colleague Suella Braverman, who has defected to Reform, said last week that she did not regard herself as English despite being born in London.
The former home secretary, now Reform’s education spokeswoman, told BBC Question Time: “Of course I’m not English. I’m not an English person – I am of Asian origin.”
Mrs Braverman’s parents arrived from Mauritius and Kenya during the 1960s. She has described herself as “British, of Asian ethnicity”.
Reform has also been accused of seeking to exploit Mrs Badenoch’s background by pointing to the fact that she was raised in Nigeria. Responding during her speech, the Conservative leader, who has three children with her banker husband Hamish, said: “I don’t want to live in a country run by people who threaten journalists, call veterans traitors and debate whether my mixed-race children are English.
“I don’t want to explain to my son, while we are watching our brilliant England football team, that some people do not believe our black players are English.”
Mrs Badenoch said black footballers such as Ian Wright and John Barnes had not previously faced questions over whether they were English while representing the national team. “We must not let these people take us backwards,” she added. “That is not the country we are.
Kemi Badenoch delivers her speech on the final day of the Conservative Party conference. The Tory leader used her address to accuse Reform of promoting outdated views on race and wanting to take the UK backwards
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage. Kemi Badenoch branded his party “weirdos” and criminals while urging its supporters to return to the Conservatives
“Reform MPs are openly questioning people’s identity. They are not like us – we are not like them.”
She also reminded Conservative delegates of a 1978 Tory poster that declared: “Labour says he’s black, we say he’s British.”
“I don’t know whether you’ve noticed, but I am black. I am British,” she said.
“I’m proud of my country, I’m proud of our history. All that we have done, and all that we will do in the world.
“Our best days are not behind us, and we will not allow this country to go backwards.”
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Mrs Badenoch said Britain deserved better than Labour, then turned her appeal towards Reform supporters. “Do you know who else deserves better? Reform voters. Many of them are our people. We let them down and we want them to come back home. They deserve better than Reform politicians,” she said.
She joked that Reform leaders had been “measuring up the curtains for No10” a year earlier, but said some were now facing the prospect of prison. She cited the party’s former Welsh leader Nathan Gill, who was jailed last year for “taking bribes from Russia”.
Mrs Badenoch said Mr Gill’s successor, Dan Thomas, resigned last month after being arrested. She also referred to police inquiries into donations to Robert Jenrick’s 2024 Conservative leadership campaign and payments made to a company controlled by deputy leader Richard Tice.
Mrs Badenoch pictured with her husband Hamish, with whom she has three children. During her speech, she said: “I don’t want to live in a country run by people who threaten journalists, call veterans traitors and debate whether my mixed-race children are English”
Nigel Farage with Suella Braverman who defected to Reform this year. Mrs Badenoch spoke out after her former Cabinet colleague said last week that she did not consider herself to be English, even though she was born in London
She described the £5million gift received by Nigel Farage from a crypto-billionaire – which is the subject of a parliamentary probe – as ‘fishy’ and said Reform figures had been caught boasting about ‘brown envelopes’ in an undercover sting that is being investigated by Scotland Yard.
Both Mr Farage and Reform deny any wrongdoing.
‘Just when you think Reform couldn’t get any weirder, there’s a convicted fraudster who calls himself Posh George and calls Nigel Farage ‘Daddy’,’ Mrs Badenoch said. ‘The circus goes on and on and it will never stop because this is who Reform politicians are. To those who say unite the Right, we are not uniting with that.’
But her comments, dashing hopes that the two parties may form an election pact to defeat Labour, came as three opinion polls in recent days showed the Tories were still in third place.
Mrs Badenoch acknowledged: ‘We have changed our party, but there is still a lot of work to do.
‘People are looking through the shop window, they like what they see, but let’s be honest, not enough of them are buying yet.’
She told activists they had to ‘get out there every day to make the Conservative case’, pointing out that it took the party 13 years to ‘turn it around’ after the landslide defeat of 1997.
But she insisted the Tories were ready to win the next General Election as speculation grows that Andy Burnham may go to the country next spring.
Pollster Luke Tryl posted on X: ‘That’s the toughest I’ve seen a Tory leader be on Reform since their emergence as a serious political force… taking on claims about Englishness and identity from some Reform politicians. Feels a significant change in approach.’
But Mr Farage said: ‘Kemi’s speech today confirmed what we already knew – she has no vision for the country.’
