United Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak has given Nigerian-born British lawmaker, Kemi Badenoch a key cabinet appointment.
Kemi becomes the country’s trade minister.
Sunak, UK’s youngest Prime Minister in 200 years and the very 1st man of colour in that capacity, appointed the 42-year-old for the position on Tuesday.
He also gave her the role of equalities minister.
Kemi had campaigned fiercely to become the next UK Prime Minister but was disqualified from the race months ago.
She ran a campaign adjudged as excellent and was hailed for her leadership and honest politics which helped her perform considerably better than anticipated.
However, following her disqualification, Sunak secured the highest votes with 118 on a poll, followed by Penny Mordaunt with 92 votes and the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, who received 86 on the fourth ballot.
Badenoch previously held the position of equalities minister during Boris Johnson’s term as Prime Minister.
The former software engineer also worked in the banking sector and later as a director of the Spectator magazine before being elected to the London Assembly.
She entered the Commons as MP for Saffron Walden in 2017 and lists her interests as including engineering and technology, social mobility and integration.
Born Olukemi Olufunto Badenoch, she has become a renowned British politician and will now formally serve as the Secretary of State for International Trade, President of the Board of Trade; this is in addition to being the Minister for Women and Equalities, a position she has held since 2022.