Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch revealed people sometimes think she is being “mean” to them because she likes to “tease”. The mother of three says “it’s all bantz” at home with children and she grew up in Nigeria in a “banter family”. Mrs Badenoch said she is “very laid back” and overcompensates for her “flippant” nature by being serious while at work.
Speaking to the Daily Expresso, our weekday news show, she said: “I think that what people see is me talking seriously because I’ve got to show people that I’m a serious person.
“That’s not what I’m like all the time. But if you want someone to be your prime minister, you want to know that they can do the job.
“So it’s important for me to show that I understand the facts, that I am competent. But my personality is actually very laid back.
“I think it can actually end up looking quite flippant, like I’m not taking things seriously. So I probably overcompensate that because I love to have a laugh.
“I like to tease people, which is why. And they don’t always like being teased. They don’t always like being teased, so they think that I’m being to them. But I’m just having a laugh and I like being teased. I think it’s quite funny. I grew up being teased.
“I grew up in a banter family. And my new family now, obviously with my three children, it’s all bantz.
“But when I come to work, I worry that if I’m too bantery, that it looks unserious, because at the end of the day, the job I have as leader of the opposition is a constitutional role.”
Mrs Badenoch also revealed US president Donald Trump was “very charming” to her at the recent state dinner and praised for calling for the UK to make more use of its gas and oil.
She said: “He was very charming. Yeah. He said to me, well done on supporting oil and gas.”
