By Yusuf Mohammed
Kemi Badenoch, the new leader of Britain’s Conservative Party, is discovering that personal narratives can be as politically consequential as policies.
For years, she has shared a story of winning admission into Stanford University’s “pre-med” programme at 16, only to turn it down because her family could not afford the fees. The anecdote, repeated in multiple interviews, added colour to her rise — brilliance tempered by financial constraint.
But the story is now in dispute. Stanford does not offer a pre-med major, and Jon Reider, the admissions officer responsible for international students at the time, insists Badenoch was never admitted. “If we had taken a Nigerian student with aid, I would remember. We did not,” he told The Guardian.
Reider went further: the idea of a partial scholarship was “implausible,” as the school would only grant full support to ensure enrolment.
The controversy lands at a delicate moment for Badenoch. Having built her brand on merit and grit, she now faces questions about whether parts of her backstory were embellished — or simply misremembered.
