Kemi Badenoch today used her first Conservative conference speech as party leader to thank her husband Hamish.

In her keynote address to the Tory gathering in Manchester, Mrs Badenoch hailed the party as 'my family', adding this was 'in many ways quite literally'.

'I married the deputy chairman of my association,' she said. 'And I certainly would not be standing here today without my husband, Hamish. Thank you Ham.'

At the end of Mrs Badenoch's speech, Hamish joined his wife on stage as they shared a hug in front of an applauding audience. 

Hamish is a true blue and a former politician, having represented the Conservatives as a councillor in the past.

But what more is there to know about him?

The Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is married to Hamish Badenoch.

The family name comes from the Scottish Gaelic 'baideanach', meaning 'drowned land' - refering to a historic region of the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands where the upper River Spey caused seasonal flooding. 

But Hamish was born in Catholic maternity hospital St Teresa's in Wimbledon - coincidentally, also the birthplace of his future partner. 

Mr Badenoch went to Catholic private school Ampleforth - now costing over £30,000 a year for day students and £45,000 for boarders - in York.

He went on to become head boy before then studying at Cambridge University. 

His mother moved to London from Ireland before Hamish was born, but Mr Badenoch once hoped to move to the Emerald Isle when he ran as the Tory candidate for Foyle in 2015.

To his disappointment, he finished last in that race with a meage 0.4 per cent of the vote - clearly lacking the knack for political success which his spouse has displayed.

The Badenochs first met on the campaign trail at the Dulwich and West Norwood Conservative Club in 2009.

Mr Badenoch had just moved to the area and coincidentally lived on the same road as his new colleague.

She recalled thinking her future husband fancied himself as a nominee, but the 25-year-old software engineer had already been selected. 

She told The Times, 'it wasn't love at first sight,' but things developed as they worked together more and more.

Then Kemi Adegoke, the future Tory leader was fundraising ahead of the 2010 General Election when the Tories reclaimed power for the first time in over a decade

However, Badenoch lost out to former Labour minister Tessa Jowell.

Kemi and Hamish married in 2012 and have three children - two sons and a daughter - who are kept out of the public eye.

The youngsters - aged from five to 12 - became an unexpected talking point during their mother's Tory leadership campaign, when Sir Christopher Chope, 77 - a Tory backbencher supporting Jenrick - claimed the MP for North West Essex would struggle as leader due to being 'preoccupied' with motherhood.

Mrs Badenoch, who held multiple ministerial positions at once while the Tories were in power, quickly slapped down the claim.

The former Minister for Women and Equalities insisted parenting is a 'two person job'.

Mr Badenoch now works at Deutsche Bank after his own stint in politics.

When running to be the Tory candidate in Foyle in 2015, Mr Badenoch was in the middle of a term on Merton Borough Council, where he represented the Conservatives from 2014 to 2018.

As he dropped out of politics, his wife only became more involved, landing her first junior ministerial position in 2019 under Boris Johnson, when she became Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children, Families and Wellbeing.