She claims to stand for fiscal responsibility but Westminster grifter Kemi Badenoch is no different from the strivers she scapegoats.
A small-state Conservative, she rails against “big government,” questions minimum wage increases, and frames state support as a trap rather than a safety net.
But the reality is this: she claims the same public money as the working-class families she derides — and she claims more of it than most.
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The Leader of the Opposition and MP for North West Essex currently claims £2,700 a month in rent for a six-bedroom Grade II-listed farmhouse in her own constituency — complete with extensive gardens and a separate annexe (containing one of the bedrooms).
She also claims around £4,000 a year in council tax, fully funded by the public purse. Last year, her total accommodation expenses reached £36,244.65, placing her among the highest claimants in Westminster — just £1,200 short of the maximum allowed.
All of this is entirely within the rules.
But so is claiming Universal Credit – and that’s the point.
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Badenoch’s lifestyle — state-funded, rule-abiding, and comfortable — mirrors the same kind of government support she frames as moral failure when it applies to others.
She’s not just a Westminster grifter in financial terms. She’s a grifter in moral terms, too — weaponising the idea of dependency when it suits her, while privately enjoying its benefits.
This isn’t a one-off. Badenoch has consistently opposed measures designed to help those in poverty — whether it’s increases to maternity pay, the minimum wage, or other cost-of-living supports.
Her rhetoric casts those who need help as somehow undeserving, addicted to state handouts, or fundamentally lacking in personal responsibility.
But the truth is clear: Kemi Badenoch lives off the state just like the people she scapegoats. The difference is that when they do it, they’re demonised. When she does it, it’s dressed up as governance.
At a time when millions are skipping meals, rationing energy, and drowning under rising costs — the idea that one of the most senior Conservatives is quietly maxing out her taxpayer-funded lifestyle is not just offensive. It’s revealing.
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If you value independent political journalism that holds power to account — without corporate or party influence — please consider supporting this work. Even £1 helps keep it going.
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Because the moral vacuum here isn’t just personal. It runs through the party. Badenoch is far from the only one. But she is the most ideologically explicit — the one who preaches hardest while practising none of it.
This is the ugly heart of Conservatism now: austerity for you, expenses for me.
She’s all for shrinking the state — just not the bit that pays her rent.
Westminster grifter Kemi Badenoch is no different from the strivers she scapegoats
She claims to stand for fiscal responsibility but Westminster grifter Kemi Badenoch is no different from the strivers she scapegoats.
A small-state Conservative, she rails against “big government,” questions minimum wage increases, and frames state support as a trap rather than a safety net.
But the reality is this: she claims the same public money as the working-class families she derides — and she claims more of it than most.
🧡 **Support Vox Political**
If you value independent political journalism that holds power to account — without corporate or party influence — please consider supporting this work. Even £1 helps keep it going.
👉 Support here via Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/voxpolitical
The Leader of the Opposition and MP for North West Essex currently claims £2,700 a month in rent for a six-bedroom Grade II-listed farmhouse in her own constituency — complete with extensive gardens and a separate annexe (containing one of the bedrooms).
She also claims around £4,000 a year in council tax, fully funded by the public purse. Last year, her total accommodation expenses reached £36,244.65, placing her among the highest claimants in Westminster — just £1,200 short of the maximum allowed.
All of this is entirely within the rules.
But so is claiming Universal Credit – and that’s the point.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
Badenoch’s lifestyle — state-funded, rule-abiding, and comfortable — mirrors the same kind of government support she frames as moral failure when it applies to others.
She’s not just a Westminster grifter in financial terms. She’s a grifter in moral terms, too — weaponising the idea of dependency when it suits her, while privately enjoying its benefits.
This isn’t a one-off. Badenoch has consistently opposed measures designed to help those in poverty — whether it’s increases to maternity pay, the minimum wage, or other cost-of-living supports.
Her rhetoric casts those who need help as somehow undeserving, addicted to state handouts, or fundamentally lacking in personal responsibility.
But the truth is clear: Kemi Badenoch lives off the state just like the people she scapegoats. The difference is that when they do it, they’re demonised. When she does it, it’s dressed up as governance.
At a time when millions are skipping meals, rationing energy, and drowning under rising costs — the idea that one of the most senior Conservatives is quietly maxing out her taxpayer-funded lifestyle is not just offensive. It’s revealing.
🧡 **Support Vox Political**
If you value independent political journalism that holds power to account — without corporate or party influence — please consider supporting this work. Even £1 helps keep it going.
👉 Support here via Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/voxpolitical
Because the moral vacuum here isn’t just personal. It runs through the party. Badenoch is far from the only one. But she is the most ideologically explicit — the one who preaches hardest while practising none of it.
This is the ugly heart of Conservatism now: austerity for you, expenses for me.
She’s all for shrinking the state — just not the bit that pays her rent.
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