Who is Hamish Badenoch? Banker, father and husband of Tory leader Kemi

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COMMENTSKemi 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.

Kemi Badenoch and her husband Hamish arrive ahead of her keynote speech on the final day of the Conservative Party Conference on Wednesday, October 7GettyWhile the public has come to know Kemi, a figure who remains something of a mystery is the man in her life.

Mr Badenoch stayed in the background as his wife has climbed to the top of the Tory ladder.

And since Ms Badenoch has been at the helm of her party, the banker is yet to become a household name.

Here is what you need to know about Hamish Badenoch:

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.

Kemi Badenoch and her husband Hamish at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham’s International Convention Centre on October 5, 2026 GettyHamish, too, has won elections for the Tories – albeit at a lower levelMr 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.

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They married in 2012 and have two sons and a daughter, who are believed to be aged between seven and 13.

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 his 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.”

Hamish and Kemi Badenoch, after she became the first black woman elected to lead a major UK political party in November 2024PA WireSpeaking 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.”

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.”