39-year-old Kemi Badenoch has been appointed as the minister of children by British prime minister, Boris Johnson.
Born in Wimbledon by Nigerian parents, she spent part of her childhood in Lagos and left for UK at age 16, where she did her A levels in an FE college in London.
She was an engineering apprentice before she went ahead to study systems engineering at the University of Sussex. She is a member of of the British Computer Society and also studied law at Birkbeck, University of London.
She was elected to parliament in 2017, having previously served for the conservatives in the London assembly.
At the parliament, Badenoch talked about her experiences of poverty in Nigeria, including living without electricity or functioning water supply.
She also narrated how she had to do her homework using candles.
In a tweet, she said her appointment is a huge privilege to make a positive difference.
“I’m humbled to have been appointed a junior minister at the DfE. A huge privilege to be able to serve and make a positive difference on a number of issues close to my heart. I look forward to working with the ministerial team and everyone at @educationgovuk,” she tweeted.
