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Kemi Badenoch Is Proof That Representation Politics Has Failed Us

The announcement that Kemi Badenoch claimed the leadership of the Conservative Party was met with polite congratulations from all sides. The leadership race had finally wrapped up on Saturday and Badenoch had claimed victory over Robert Jenrick – whose weirdness matches hers so well, I wonder if he will be in the shadow cabinet.

But of course, what was part of the celebrations is the fact that Kemi Badenoch is the first black woman to lead a political party in the UK. 

Inevitably, there was also the Obama comparison. When a black or brown person makes it to a top political position, we are expected to be excited in the same way the whole world was when Barack Obama was first elected.

When Obama was first elected, there was a political naivety we all had – I was six, after all. Then I grew up and realised that a black person in a position of power who continues to perpetuate the same ultra-capitalist policies that do little to help anyone and continue wars that kill millions of innocents is not revolutionary.