Kemi Badenoch, the newly elected leader of the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party and a Nigerian-born member of parliament, recently shared her views on colonialism, questioning the common narrative that colonialism is the root cause of underdevelopment in former British colonies.
In a video circulated widely in October, Badenoch, who previously held the position of the UK’s business and trade minister, argued that countries often cite British colonialism as the primary reason for their slower socio-economic growth.
However, she described this perspective as misguided and called it a “scam” to persistently blame colonial history.
Badenoch urged former colonies to recognize both the faults and achievements of the British Empire, highlighting the UK’s role in ending the transatlantic slave trade as an example. “The British Empire made mistakes, but it also did amazing things, like abolishing the Atlantic slave trade. We need to discuss that more,” she said.
She recalled her experiences at the World Trade Organization (WTO), where, as trade minister, she encountered calls for reparations and demands to alter UK policies due to colonial history. Badenoch rebuffed these claims, describing them as attempts to leverage historical guilt for financial and policy gains.
“We need to put the UK’s interests first while fostering positive relations globally. But let’s stop pretending that everything about the British Empire was negative,” she asserted.
