Revealed: Greens hopeful who is calling for the UK to pay slavery reparations is a descendant of slave traders

By SAM MERRIMAN, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT Published: 23:33, 4 May 2026 | Updated: 23:35, 4 May 2026 A Green Party candidate pushing Britain to pay trillions of pounds in slavery reparations is descended from a Nigerian royal family that traded slaves. Antoinette Fernandez is the 'reparations officer' for the party's Global Majority Greens group which campaigns for 'racial and environmental justice'. However, she is also the daughter of a billionaire oil baron who was one of Africa's richest men. The local election candidate has campaigned for British taxpayers to pay reparations for the transatlantic slave trade and said that politicians who oppose it 'show an appalling arrogance'. Ms Fernandez – who is standing for Zack Polanski's party in London – is the daughter of the Queen Mother of Lagos and is given the title 'princess' in the Nigerian press. Her mother is Abiola Dosunmu and her father is Antonio Deinde Fernandez, a late business magnate and UN ambassador who is said to have made his fortune in oil, gas and mining and had a reported net worth of $8.7billion (£6.5billion) when he died in 2015. Through her mother, the Green politician is a descendant of the Obas (kings) of Lagos, some of whom historians describe as 'major' slave traders that made 'lucrative commissions from slave deals'. One of Ms Fernandez's ancient relatives personally owned 1,400 slaves and another even brought back slaves that had been sent to Brazil to build houses in Lagos, according to one historian. Antoinette Fernandez – who is standing for Zack Polanski's party in London – is the daughter of the Queen Mother of Lagos and is given the title 'princess' in the Nigerian press The campaigner's family accrued wealth through the slave trade which they used to purchase 'velvet clothes, royal umbrellas, hats and stylish robes', the account adds. On Monday the Conservatives and Reform UK rounded on Ms Fernandez, branding her the 'ultimate hypocrite' for demanding hard-up Britons shell out for reparations. But the Green Party said that reporting Ms Fernandez's lineage is 'racist' and a 'bad-faith attempt to undermine the case for reparative justice'. Britain abolished the slave trade in 1807 and then spent millions of pounds – billions in today's money – and thousands of sailors' lives putting an end to the practice worldwide. On Monday Laila Cunningham, Reform UK's London mayoral candidate, called Ms Fernandez 'the ultimate hypocrite'. The Reform councillor said: 'While Brits are crushed by the cost-of-living crisis, she demands we fork out billions more in slave reparations, even though Britain has already spent tens of billions wiping out the slave trade.' In March, the UN voted in favour of former colonial powers paying reparations for slavery – possibly up to £18trillion according to a UN judge in 2023.  After the vote, Ms Fernandez said: 'Britain and the US in particular need to acknowledge the inhumane crimes they inflicted on the African people for centuries and the ongoing impact of those crimes on the Global South.' Ms Fernandez – who has described her background as 'privileged' and boarded at Millfield School in Somerset, which costs more than £60,000 a year – ran for the Greens at the 2024 General Election and stood to be the party's deputy leader in 2025.  She is standing as a councillor for Lea Bridge, in Hackney, east London, in the upcoming local elections. Conservative Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake said her candidacy 'fits a pattern' for the Green Party, adding: 'The Greens are not a serious political force. They have been captured by hard-Left activism and student politics.'  Ms Fernandez was approached for comment. The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.