Meet the Africans appointed ministers by new UK PM Boris Johnson

Kemi Badenoch

The 39-year-old Nigerian woman took the office of Junior Minister for Children and Families following a government reshuffle. Badenoch is a British Conservative politician and Member of Parliament (MP) for Saffron Walden.

Her new post “encompasses child protection, children in care, adoption, care leavers, social work, local authority performance, and family law.”

Born Olukemi Olufunto Adegoke in January 1980 in Wimbledon, London to Nigerian parents, Badenoch’s childhood was spent in Lagos and the United States.

She moved to the United Kingdom at the age of 16 and has been the MP for Saffron Walden since 2017 after replacing Nadhim Zawahi. The software and IT engineer studied Systems Engineering at the University of Sussex and later followed this up with a law degree before spending some years in the IT and banking sectors, working in the banking sector for firms such as Coutts and RBS, reports The Guardian.

The mother of two, who believes that Britain would be better off without the EU, described the vote for Brexit during her 2017 maiden speech as MP, as “the greatest ever vote of confidence in the project of the United Kingdom”.

Tweeting about her recent appointment, Badenoch said: “Thank you for all good wishes and kind messages of support received. I also look forward to working not just with @Conservatives colleagues but cross-party and grateful for the warm welcome from @TracyBrabin and @Steve ReedMP who no doubt will be keeping me on my toes!”