Kemi Badenoch is one of a number of MPs who has thrown their hat into the ring for the Tory leadership contest following Boris Johnson's resignation.
She was elected as the MP of Saffron Welden, Essex in 2017 and joined the frontbench two years later as Equalities minister.
She resigned as equalities minister and a minister in the Levelling Up department on July 6.
The former junior education minister announced her bid for leadership in the Times where she condemned in her words "platitudes and empty rhetoric" while promising to downsize government and lower taxes while being completely committed to Brexit. She is also focusing on battling against some social issues such as identity politics and 'social justice' revolving around race and culture - something she regularly commentates on.
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The 42-year-old used to work as a banker and grew up in the UK, US and Nigeria. During the 2016 Brexit referendum she strongly supported leaving the EU.
She also voted in favour of the withdrawal agreement drawn up by Theresa May's government in 2019.
Ms Badenoch may be considered an outsider for the leadership given the Tory grandees already in the running, but her profile was boosted by an endorsement from Michael Gove on Sunday.
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