Kemi Badenoch is set to deliver her keynote leader’s speech at the Conservative Party Conference, cheered on by her husband Hamish. The couple were photographed arriving hand-in-hand at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham on Wednesday morning ahead of her keenly-awaited address.
Rewinding a year, Ms Badenoch made reference in her conference speech to her fellow Tories being her family — none more so than husband Hamish. "You are my family – in many ways quite literally – I married the deputy chairman of my association," she said to much laughter from the audience at Manchester Central convention centre.
A Banking Background
Mr Badenoch was born in Wimbledon, and was head boy at Ampleforth College, a Roman Catholic boarding school run by monks, before reading History at Cambridge University.
He had a varied early career, working as a journalist in Malawi, a management consultant in Nigeria and running an Avis car hire franchise in Kenya. Mr Badenoch then worked at Barclays, before spending 15 years at Deutsche Bank, where he was the global head of “future of work and real estate transformation” according to his LinkedIn. He is now a consultant, according to the Financial Times. His somewhat rare surname dates back to a Scottish Gaelic heritage.
Political Roles and Family Life
Mr Badenoch was a Conservative councillor from 2014 to 2018 at Merton Council. He has been nowhere near the Commons, however, as he won only 132 votes when he stood for his party in the Northern Irish constituency of Foyle in 2015.
Mr Badenoch met Kemi Adegoke in 2009 at the Dulwich and West Norwood Conservative Club, and gradually became an item as they worked together. They married in 2012 and have two sons and a daughter, who are believed to be aged between seven and 13.
Supportive Partner
While not a career politician himself, he has been there every step of the way for his wife, giving her a lift around south London in 2010 as she battled Dame Tessa Jowell for the Dulwich and West Norwood seat. This in some ways gives him a similarity to Denis Thatcher - but unlike the Iron Lady’s other half, Mr Badenoch has a very low profile.
Lord Ashcroft commented: "Hamish and she are like a team. He put her career ahead of his own. If he said to her that he didn't think her being the leader would work for the family, she wouldn't do it."
Speaking to Sky News in April 2026, Ms Badenoch called her husband “the best partner that any woman could ever ask for”. The Conservative leader added that “it's because of him that I'm able to do this.”
A Centrist View
Kemi Badenoch campaigned on a pro Brexit message - but her husband does not share this view and is considered by insiders to be a more centrist Tory.
Lord Ashcroft said: "Anyone who claims she doesn't understand the One Nation wing of the party is reminded that she wakes up beside a Remainer every morning."
