Kemi Badenoch is the surprise candidate in the Tory leadership contest. Badenoch was, until a few weeks ago, a relatively lowly minister in Boris Johnson’s government. Now she stands a credible chance of becoming the next prime minister. Her success in facing down her Conservative rivals has catapulted her into the limelight. But for feminists like me who campaign for sex-based rights her impact on the leadership contest isn’t entirely unexpected.
Why? Because unlike her rivals like Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt, Badenoch knows the answer to a simple question: what is a woman? Of all the candidates, her support of sex-based rights, including single-sex spaces and services, makes her stand out in a field of contenders who have dithered and hesitated on this increasingly toxic policy issue.
Rather than tell women who have been attacked by trans activists to calm down and ‘be kind’, Badenoch has stood up for feminists targeted by mobs demanding subservience from women while they steal away their rights.
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