British Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has criticised Reform UK and former Conservative colleague Suella Braverman over a growing debate about English identity, particularly comments suggesting that people from ethnic minority backgrounds can be British but not English.
Badenoch addressed the issue during her keynote speech at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, where she accused Reform politicians of “openly questioning people’s identity” and warned against what she described as an attempt to take Britain backwards.
“I don’t want to live in a country run by people who threaten journalists, who call veterans traitors, and debate whether my mixed-race children are English,” Badenoch told party members.
She also spoke about the message such arguments could send to children, particularly when they see Black footballers representing England.
“I don’t want to explain to my son when we’re watching our brilliant England team play football that some people don’t think our black players are English,” she said.
Badenoch referenced former England internationals Ian Wright and John Barnes, arguing that their English identity was not publicly questioned in the same way.
“I remember back in the day when Ian Wright and John Barnes were playing, nobody was questioning whether they were English,” she said. “We certainly didn’t have sitting MPs questioning whether they were English.”
Her remarks followed comments by Braverman, who is now a Reform UK MP after leaving the Conservative Party. Braverman had argued that Englishness was an ethnic identity and said that while she was proud to be British, she did not consider herself English despite being born in England.
Braverman has argued that treating anyone born in England as English takes an overly broad approach to ethnicity and identity. Her position has triggered criticism and accusations of racial exclusion, while she has maintained that her argument is about preserving a distinct English ethnic and cultural identity.
Badenoch rejected the idea that politicians should determine whether people from particular ethnic backgrounds are entitled to identify as English.
Speaking earlier on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, she questioned the practice of “policing other people’s identity” and said identity was personal.
“My children, they are half-white and half-black. We are a multiracial country. I think we should be proud of that,” Badenoch said.
She added that politicians should focus on bringing people together rather than creating divisions over identity.
During her conference speech, Badenoch further drew a clear political distinction between the Conservatives and Reform UK.
“Reform MPs are openly questioning people’s identity. They are not like us. We are not like them. We are different. We are the Conservative Party,” she said.
The dispute comes as Badenoch seeks to distinguish the Conservative Party from Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage. She has ruled out an electoral pact or alliance with Reform and has criticised what she describes as the party’s approach to race, identity and nationalism.
The controversy has also renewed a wider discussion in Britain about the difference between British nationality, English identity, ethnicity and cultural belonging.
For Badenoch, the issue is not simply a question of terminology. Her comments frame the debate as part of a broader argument about whether Britain’s national identity should be understood in an inclusive civic sense or primarily through ethnicity and ancestry.
“I am Black. I am British. I’m proud of my country, I’m proud of our history,” Badenoch said during her conference address.
Her intervention has placed questions of race, identity and national belonging firmly at the centre of the political debate, while also highlighting the growing ideological divide between the Conservative Party and Reform UK ahead of Britain’s next general election.
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