Baroness June Sarpong OBE is a British-Ghanaian television presenter, author, broadcaster and diversity advocate whose career has taken her from British television screens to the highest levels of media and public life.

In 2026, she added another historic milestone to an already remarkable career when she became Baroness Sarpong of Walthamstow, a life peer in the UK House of Lords. She was created Baroness Sarpong on 21 August 2026, following her nomination for a life peerage by Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

In November 2019, June Sarpong was appointed the BBC’s first-ever Director of Creative Diversity, a role she held for three years. During her time at the BBC, she became the first Black woman to sit on the corporation’s Executive Committee and managed a major investment into diverse media content.

Her work focused on increasing representation and ensuring that a wider range of voices and experiences could be reflected within one of the world’s most influential media organisations.

Long before taking on executive leadership roles, June established herself as one of Britain’s best-known television presenters. Over a broadcasting career spanning approximately 25 years, she became widely recognised as a presenter on Channel 4’s T4. She also co-presented “Your Face or Mine”? with Jimmy Carr and appeared regularly on programmes including ITV’s “Loose Women and Sky News’ The Pledge”.

June has also used writing as another platform for conversations around equality, representation and social change. She is the author of books including Diversify, The Power of Women and The Power of Privilege. She is also the co-founder of the Women: Inspiration & Enterprise (WIE) Network, an organisation created to support and connect women leaders.

Beyond television and publishing, she has hosted major international events, including celebrations marking Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday in Hyde Park. In 2020, she was awarded an OBE for services to broadcasting.

She was born in Newham, East London, to Ghanaian parents. She attended the Connaught School for Girls in Leytonstone before going on to Sir George Monoux College in Walthamstow.

More than three decades later, her connection to Walthamstow has taken on a new significance. Her life peerage is formally styled Baroness Sarpong, of Walthamstow in the London Borough of Waltham Forest.