What’s the biggest surprise about British-Nigerian politician Kemi Badenoch becoming the leader of Britain’s Conservative Party and leader of the opposition? It’s that there isn’t the slightest surprise that a black Briton has taken the top job – succeeding Rishi Sunak, Britain’s first British Asian prime minister.

Britain has come a long way from the 1960s when Conservative politician Enoch Powell infamously predicted that race riots and ‘rivers of blood” would flow if more Blacks and Asians arrived in Britain. Today, Blacks and Asians are in the top echelons of the Conservative Party, which was once an all-white bastion.

The 44-year-old Badenoch narrowly edged out politician Robert Jenrick while another Black politician, James Cleverly, finished third. Cleverly, who was home minister in Sunak’s government and foreign minister in the short-lived Liz Truss administration, was widely considered a favourite for the leadership. Many Conservatives had wanted the more moderate and middle-of-the road Cleverly to win.

Consider the odds against Badenoch. She's Black. She's a woman and she’s known for her aggressive, outspoken style. The mother who’s married to a banker and is the mother of three children is also extremely socially conservative (with a small ‘c’). She startled voters and her own party during her campaign by proposing slashing maternity benefits and suggesting that “not all cultures are equally valid.”

The Financial Times noted: "Badenoch's combative style sometimes risks tipping into rudeness, with even her allies conceding she could start a fight in an empty room." During her time as equalities minister, she picked an avoidable row over transgenders.

Businessman Lord Karan Bilimoria points out he predicted 20 years ago that an Asian would soon be Britain’s prime minister. Unfortunately, Sunak, who was widely acknowledged as extremely upright and hard-working, lacked the political acumen to do the job. He also came in at the tail end of a string of indifferent Tory Party prime ministers and was too late to save the party from an inevitable crushing defeat. Sunak was the party’s fifth leader in eight years.

Badenoch, who has a computer engineering degree and is also a lawyer, is the very opposite of the politely mannered Sunak. At times, it looks as if she goes out of her way to come up with an abrasive response. The Conservatives are hoping this quality will shine during Prime Minister’s Question Time, the Wednesday afternoon showdown between the prime minister and the opposition leader. Britain's prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, is a relatively colourless Parliamentary performer and the feisty Badenoch may quite easily land her punches against him.

Badenoch made her first appearance in Parliament in 2017 and she styles herself as a first-generation immigrant. Her parents emigrated to Britain and she was born in Wimbledon. But Badenoch was then packed off to Nigeria and lived there till she was 16.

Historically, British Asians were mostly aligned with the now ruling Labour Party. But embarrassingly for Labour, it has been the Conservatives -- largely under Prime Minister David Cameron but also his successors -- which have promoted Asians and Blacks and put them in high-profile positions.

Notably, many like Badenoch and former home minister Priti Patel, turned out to be rabid right-wingers. Even more hardline and tactless was Suella Braverman, who was justice minister and was then promoted way beyond her competence level, to home minister. Says one prominent Asian: "Both Patel and Braverman are both extreme, right-wing lightweights." Badenoch has said she blocked the India-UK free trade agreement due to India’s demands for more visas. “They kept trying to bring in immigration and I said ‘no,’ “.

Another Asian minister, Alok Sharma, also enjoyed a brief moment in the limelight but was ultimately seen as ineffective. The most respected Asian minister was Sajid Javid, the son of a Pakistani bus driver. A new rising star to watch is Clare Coutinho, who was energy security and net-zero minister in the Sunak government. Net Zero is about reducing greenhouse gas emissions -- though Badenoch has declared she doesn't believe in such goals.

By contrast, Labour, which was once seen as the immigrant party, has relatively few non-whites in prominent positions. Black politician David Lammy is the foreign minister and there's also Culture and Sports Minister Lisa Nandy, whose academic father Deepak Nandy played a prominent role in race relations.

British American historian Niall Ferguson observes Badenoch has read extensively and is well-versed with less well-known right-wing philosophers. He reckons that puts her in a different league from all the other contenders for the Conservative leadership.

Will Badenoch be able to curtail her feisty instincts? She has promised to tone down her aggressive style now she’s leading the Conservatives but this may prove difficult as it’s her default mode. She's also convinced there's a group of civil servants and journalists blocking right-wing reform, which could lead to many more confrontations. She’s said 5-10 per cent of civil servants are “very bad” and “should be in prison”, a remark her team later dismissed as a joke but which provoked a considerable backlash.

There are almost five years to go before the next general election, and it’s uncertain if Badenoch will survive till the next polls. She’s the sixth Tory leader in just over eight years and faces the challenge of uniting a deeply fractured party. The answer could easily be no. Nonetheless, the Conservatives have struck a blow for equality by electing her as leader, showcasing Britain’s progress toward being a genuinely multicultural society.