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Engineer, Hacker, and Ron DeSantis Fan: Five Things About Kemi Badenoch | Kemi Badenoch

Vaseline November 2, 2024

1. She’s an engineer, but not the kind that builds bridges

During the campaign, Badenoch made extensive use of her technical background, arguing that it allowed her to look at problems in an analytical way, unencumbered by ideology. It is not wrong to call herself an engineer, but her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from the University of Sussex were in computer systems engineering.

She started working as a software engineer before focusing on consultancy and financial services. Badenoch could also call herself a lawyer, as she also completed a bachelor’s degree in law at Birkbeck, University of London, part-time – but is usually quieter about that.

2. She’s a fan of Ron DeSantis, and it’s mutual

While Badenoch managed to portray herself as the more moderate of the last two candidates, she is an enthusiastic American-style culture warrior, and has won the admiration of Ron DeSantis, the hardline Republican governor of Florida, who has waged his own battle against the apparent plague of ‘woke’ thinking, including a ban on many books from school libraries.

DeSantis endorsed Badenoch for Tory leader, saying she is “flying the bold colors flag” of conservatism. The pair met when Badenoch was trade secretary, with DeSantis telling a British newspaper that she told him she supported his policies, which also included a range of policies targeting LGBTQ+ communities.

“She complimented what we are doing in Florida,” DeSantis said. “She promised that this is what they are trying to do in Britain.”

3. Some of the fights she initiates are curious and small

One of the things that perhaps makes Badenoch most famous among voters is her willingness to take on the fight, and some enjoy her boxing approach. But there are concerns among some Tory MPs that she could be too haphazard in this regard.

Perhaps the most striking example came in 2021 when the then relatively little-known equalities minister took to Twitter to criticize a journalist for being ‘creepy and bizarre’ by asking some fairly routine questions. Boris Johnson’s No 10 defended Badenoch, but privately a number of officials and MPs were baffled.

4. At times she can also take on the Tory right

Although Badenoch is, by most definitions, on the populist side of her party and has always been in favor of leaving the EU – unlike Robert Jenrick – she is not universally popular with the Brexiter right wing of the Conservatives.

Some of this dates back to 2023, when Badenoch as business minister carried out a U-turn on a pledge to scrap thousands of EU laws still on the UK statute books by the end of the year. Badenoch presented this as pragmatism, but faced open anger from Tory Brexiteers such as Mark Francois.

Some of the anger was simply a result of the decision, but some arose from Badenoch’s own approach, responding to an urgent question from the House of Commons on the issue with, as one observer put it, sometimes “astonishing rudeness”.

5. She hacked Harriet Harman’s website – and admitted it

When politicians are asked in interviews to name the naughtiest thing they’ve ever done, they normally come up with a charming and self-effacing anecdote about mild boisterousness. When Badenoch was questioned, she admitted she may have breached the Computer Misuse Act, an offense punishable by up to five years in prison.

This was 2018, when a video emerged of Badenoch answering the question, with the then new MP saying: “About ten years ago I hacked into a Labor MP’s website and changed things there to say nice things about the Tories. ”

It turned out that she had made a fake post on Harriet Harman’s website in 2008, saying that Harman was supporting Boris Johnson in the London mayoral election, after guessing the website’s password. Luckily, Harman accepted her apology.