Josh Babarinde

Joshua Thomas Aderele Babarinde^[1] was born in 1993 at the Eastbourne District General Hospital.^[2] He studied at the Cavendish School where he completed his GCSEs and then at East Sussex College between 2009 and 2011 where he completed his A-Levels, and went on to study politics and government at the London School of Economics.^[3]

After graduation, Babarinde won a place on the social enterprise fellowship Year Here.^[4] During this time he volunteered as a youth worker in east London, working with young people to find an alternative path to crime and gang violence. Inspired by this experience he founded Cracked It, a social enterprise offering smart phone repair services provided by youth at risk and young ex-offenders.^[5][6] Cracked It was the recipient of Social Enterprise of the Year awards by both the Centre for Social Justice^[7] and the Evening Standard.^[8]

Babarinde has won numerous accolades for his social entrepreneurship achievements, including a Shackleton Award^[9] and a Winston Churchill Fellowship.^[10] In 2019, he was named in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list of social entrepreneurs.^[11] Babarinde went on to work as Head of Learning and Innovation at the School for Social Entrepreneurs in 2020. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2020 Birthday Honours for his services to criminal justice, social enterprise and the economy.^[12]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Babarinde was trained by St John Ambulance to serve as a volunteer COVID-19 vaccinator in Eastbourne.^[13]

During the 2019 general election, Babarinde stood as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Bethnal Green and Bow, coming third.

Babarinde won a by-election to Eastbourne Borough Council in the ward of Hampden Park on 6 May 2021.^[14][15][16] He stood down as a councillor at the 2023 council election to focus on his parliamentary election campaign.^[17]

In 2022, Babarinde contributed a chapter to The Battle for Liberal Britain, a book edited by Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, in which he proposed to re-envision council estates as business incubators.^[18]

Babarinde stood for Parliament in the 2024 general election in his local constituency of Eastbourne, aiming to unseat Conservative MP Caroline Ansell, who had been one of his school teachers.^[19] He was elected with a majority of over 12,000.^[20] In September 2024, Babarinde was selected as the Liberal Democrats' parliamentary spokesperson for Justice.^[21][22]

In 2025, Babarinde was elected President of the Liberal Democrats. He began his term on 1 January 2026.^[23]