British Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, has condemned what she described as racist attacks against her after a former aide to Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, called her a “Nigerian scammer”.
Badenoch said the attacks, which referenced her Nigerian background, would not work, accusing Reform politicians of using her race to improve their political standing.
She made the remarks during an interview on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Thursday, following comments by Raheem Kassam, a former senior aide to Farage, who posted a series of attacks against her on social media.
Kassam, who previously served as editor-in-chief of Breitbart News, described Badenoch as an “unrelenting scammer” and accused her of using her Nigerian background to advance her career.
In another post, he wrote, “How are people still falling for this Nigerian scammer? Don’t give her your credit card number and bank account details!”
Responding to the comments, Badenoch said, “I think it just shows the sort of people they are.”
She added that Reform politicians were spending more time attacking her than discussing policies to improve people’s lives.
“I think they think that maybe using my race is a way for them to improve their standing.
“Britain is not a racist country, and because it’s not a racist country, their racist attacks and using my race as an attack form is not going to work,” she said.
The controversy also drew criticism over the response of Robert Jenrick, Reform’s Treasury spokesman, who declined to condemn Kassam’s remarks.
Asked whether he considered the comments racist during an ITV interview, Jenrick said he did not, although he described them as potentially unpleasant or rude.
“It’s not my place to police everybody’s tweets who may or may not be a supporter of Reform,” he said.
Jenrick also referred to a controversy over Badenoch’s claim that she had received an offer from Stanford University at the age of 16 for a pre-medical course. Badenoch has maintained that she received the offer but said she no longer had the relevant documents.
Farage also dismissed suggestions that Kassam’s comments were racist, telling BBC Breakfast that referring to someone growing up in Nigeria was not racist. He later acknowledged that the remarks were “over the top” but said he did not believe they were intentionally racist.
Reacting to Jenrick’s refusal to condemn the comments, a Labour spokesman said calling out racism was not a matter of party politics but “basic decency”.
The comments came amid political tensions between Badenoch’s Conservatives and Reform UK, which has sought to attract voters who previously supported the Conservative Party.
Badenoch, who was born in London and grew up partly in Nigeria, has led the Conservative Party since November 2024.