Leader of the United Kingdom (UK) Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has spoken openly about the racism and hostility she has endured since becoming the first black woman to lead the party.

Naijaonpoint reports that in an interview with the Sunday Times, Badenoch admitted she was taken aback by the level of abuse directed at her following her election.

While stressing that only a few Conservative MPs were involved, Badenoch noted that much of the abuse came from online spaces.

“There’s a certain cadre of people who clearly can’t cope with the fact that I won this and I’m doing it. The level of personal attacks from anonymous people, it’s hysterical,” she said.

“Not even just from MPs. I actually don’t think it’s that many MPs. I think it’s two to three people out of 120. That’s nothing. But online as well. People used to talk about Trump derangement syndrome. I think there’s a Kemi derangement syndrome: ‘How could she possibly have done this?’” she said.

She added that social media attacks often included racist tropes:

“There’s a lot of ethno-nationalism creeping up, lots of stuff about my race and my ethnicity and the tropes around, ‘well, she couldn’t possibly have done this all by herself, ’” Badenoch said, speaking about her critics.

Naijaonpoint reports that Badenoch, who was born in Wimbledon but grew up in Nigeria before returning to the UK at 16, rarely speaks extensively about her race. She has often criticised anti-racism campaigners and critical race theory.

She recalled being pilloried in the past for her view that Britain was not a racist country.

“I always try to think of every possible explanation before I go to race and racism. I think that is a healthy way to run a society. I remember when I stood up a few years ago and said Britain is not a racist country, ethnic minorities do very well here, it is white working-class boys who are actually struggling on a lot of metrics, and I got pilloried for that,” she said.

Badenoch is preparing for her first party conference speech amid poor polling numbers, with the Conservatives currently at 17%, and growing speculation that her shadow justice secretary, Robert Jenrick, could challenge her leadership.

Reacting to reports Jenrick may soon replace her, Badenoch dismissed the claims as “wishful thinking.”

“There will always be people who are sore losers, our candidate didn’t win, and so on, and sour grapes. When I hear those things, I can tell those people are not focused on the country at all. Many of those people having those conversations think this is a game. But the lives of people in this country aren’t a game,” she said.