About June Tobin
June Tobin has spent over 40 years fighting for working people and their communities. Originally from London, she began her activist journey as a young civil servant supporting the miners' strikes of 1985-86. When she declined an OBE in recognition of her work, June made clear her principled opposition to imperial honours – believing instead in collective action, not establishment recognition.
Standing Up for Rural Communities
After moving to Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire to raise her family, June became a driving force in the local Labour Party – no easy task in a Tory-dominated region. She's campaigned tirelessly against the closure of public buildings, the gutting of essential services, and the industrial decline that's left our towns struggling with rural poverty and dying high streets. Westminster too often forgets communities like ours. June doesn't.
From Corporate Boardrooms to Community Centres
Though June spent years in the corporate world leading large teams for major motor manufacturers, she was always pulled back to what mattered most: her community and the fight for a fair life for everyone. As an active member of the GMB union and now Unite Community, she's never forgotten which side she's on.
Delivering Real Change
In Elephant and Castle, Southwark, June managed a youth facility, adventure playground, and community centre. She led teams delivering the Greener Streets programme – creating community gardens for food growing, running food programmes, and providing accredited training for disadvantaged young people. She raised hundreds of thousands in funding to make it all happen. An NVQ trainer and facilitator, June knows how to build capacity and empower others.
Building from the Ground Up
Since becoming a Palestine solidarity advocate in 2004, June has continued fighting injustice at home and abroad. At the start of the pandemic, she co-founded a charity serving her hometown and surrounding villages, working alongside the local authority's resilience team. The organisation delivered emergency services, established a foodbank, community fridge, social supermarket, and community centre – whilst also supporting homeless people, veterans, the elderly, young people, and refugees.
Starting organisations from nothing is one of June's specialities. She doesn't take no for an answer and has a rare gift for mobilising people behind a common cause. These charities continue thriving today.
A Proven Organiser
June is an accomplished doer with real boots-on-the-ground experience leading teams of 300+ people. If successful in this round of voting, she'll be one of the independents bringing much-needed balance to the CEC.