Kemi Badenoch becomes the first black woman to lead the British Conservatives

Labor Prime Minister Keir Starmer hailed her victory, saying “the first black leader of a party at Westminster is a proud moment for our country”.

Badenoch herself has said publicly that she prefers not to focus on her race.

Asked at the Conservative Party conference earlier this year how it would feel to become the party’s first black woman leader, she said: “I’m someone who wants the color of our skin to be no more significant than the color of our hair or the color of our eyes our”.

For some black voters in London, a city that tends to favor the Labor Party and has a Labor mayor, support for Badenoch will depend on what she does now as Conservative leader.

“They (the Conservative Party) are not more approachable because they now have a black person,” said Imani Samuels, a student. “It will just depend on what he does.”

Asked about Badenoch’s comment about her skin colour, Samuels replied: “She should be proud of it and she should step forward with Blackness, because having that position and being black and a woman should be something she is very proud to say. “.

Vaughan Gething became the first black leader of the Welsh Labor Party earlier this year, but resigned after just four months as Wales’ first minister following a wave of ministerial resignations in protest at his leadership.

Sunak, who is of Indian descent, became Britain’s first black Prime Minister in October 2022 after winning a race to lead the Conservatives that year.