Following a pivotal week, the contours of Britain’s post-election landscape are more sharply defined, and its dividing lines more vivid. Last week’s budget pointed towards an era of more proactive, interventionist government by Labour. On the other side of the House of Commons aisle, the election of Kemi Badenoch as the Conservative party’s new leader confirms that Tory opposition will, for now, be led by an abrasive neo-Thatcherite with a taste for culture wars. Traditional left-right politics is making something of a comeback.
As she assembles her shadow cabinet and prepares for her first prime minister’s questions on Wednesday, Ms Badenoch’s achievement in becoming the first black leader of a major UK party is a formidable one. The rapidity of her journey to the top – only seven years after becoming an MP – is testament to her self-belief, political drive and ambition. It is all the more notable given that she describes herself as essentially a first-generation immigrant, having been born in a London hospital but raised until the age of 16 in Nigeria. Her remarkable rise is another indication that Britain’s politics has begun to reflect its modern multicultural reality.
