John Newbigin was born in Liverpool on 13 October 1947, son of the Rt Rev. James Edward Lesslie Newbigin and Helen Stewart Newbigin (née Henderson). He was educated at Queens’ College, University of Cambridge (BA Hons 1970), and in 1978 married Juliet Grimshaw (marriage dissolved, 1994), having two daughters.

Newbigin began his career as a Youth worker with the Inner London Education Authority, 1972-73, before a spell as writer in residence with the Common Stock Theatre, 1973-74. He then returned to community work, first with Avenues Unlimited, 1975-81, then as Manager of the Brixton Young Families Housing Aid Association, 1981-84, and managed to combine work with the community with his interest in the arts as Director of the London Youth Festival, 1984-85.

Newbigin then made the move into politics as a Policy Adviser to Neil Kinnock, Leader of the Opposition, between 1986 and Kinnock's departure from the Labour Party leadership following the 1992 election. With Kinnock gone, Newbigin returned to the field of arts policy, first as Assistant to the Chairman of Enigma Productions, 1992-97, then as Special Adviser at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, 1997-2000, before becoming Head of Corporate Relations at Channel 4 Television, 2000-05. Since then he has worked as a cultural entrepreneur and consultant, and was awarded an OBE in 2015.