Kemi Badenoch has revealed her shock at the level of racist abuse she has faced since her election as the first Black woman to lead the Conservative Party, despite previously calling Britain “the best place in the world to be Black.”

In an interview with the Sunday Times, she described a barrage of personal attacks, both online and from a small number of MPs, labelling the hostility as “Kemi derangement syndrome.”

She noted a rise in ethno-nationalist rhetoric on social media, stating that critics questioned her achievements due to her race and ethnicity.

She said, “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. 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?’”

On social media, the Tory leader said, “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.’”

Born in Wimbledon and raised in Nigeria before returning to the UK at 16, Badenoch has previously distanced herself from her Nigerian roots.

The Sunday Times quoted her on Saturday, saying, “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.

“My view is that there are people out there who will say whatever it is, they will throw whatever kind of mud at you, and they will hope that it sticks.”

As she prepares for her first party conference speech, Badenoch faces leadership challenges amid speculation of a potential move by shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick, with the Conservatives polling at 17%.

Dismissing such rumours as “wishful thinking” and “sour grapes,” she accused detractors of treating politics as a game.

“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.