Labour and the Liberal Democrats have urged Kemi Badenoch to clarify her claims that she received an offer from Stanford University at the age of 16, after former admissions staff dismissed the account as implausible. Labour MP Peter Prinsley has written to the Conservative leader requesting details of how such an offer allegedly came about, while Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Munira Wilson warned that the matter risked undermining public trust.
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Badenoch has maintained that, as a teenager in Nigeria, she received letters offering her the opportunity to study medicine — a course Stanford does not provide at undergraduate level — and even partial financial support. She has also insisted that the offer was based on her strong SAT results. However, multiple former admissions officers and academics have confirmed that Stanford has never made offers solely on the basis of exam performance, with no exceptions for international students, child prodigies or royalty.
Jon Reider, who oversaw international admissions and scholarships at Stanford during the period in question, said he had not issued any such offer to Badenoch. Despite this, Badenoch reiterated her position on Monday, telling reporters that she vividly recalled receiving letters from several universities, including Stanford, though she admitted she no longer had the documentation. She accused critics of focusing on “hearsay” rather than on the government’s work.
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Opposition parties continue to call for clarification. Prinsley argued that Badenoch’s claims had been “called into serious question” and urged her to provide evidence. Labour said that honesty and integrity were essential qualities for a leader of the opposition, while Wilson wrote that failing to provide clarity risked sending the wrong message to young people awaiting results, suggesting that “you can just bluff your way to the top”.
