Inaya Folarin Iman: Age, Career, Equiano Project & Bio (2026)

She stood as a Brexit Party candidate at 22, ran a national television show at 24, and now reports for an American network from London.

Inaya Folarin Iman was born on 8 November 1996 in Tooting, south London, which makes her 29 in 2026. She is the founder and director of The Equiano Project, a reporter for CBS News based in London, and a panellist on BBC Radio 4’s Moral Maze.

Most pages about her describe a GB News presenter. She left that job in May 2022. The current one is at an American broadcaster, and the route between the two is the interesting part.

Inaya Folarin Iman: quick facts

Born	8 November 1996, Tooting, south London
Age	29 in 2026
Raised	In Kent, with her mother and sister
Heritage	Nigerian descent; second-generation immigrant
Education	Arabic and International Relations, University of Leeds
First job after university	Index on Censorship
Founded	The Equiano Project, 2020
Named after	Olaudah Equiano, the abolitionist
GB News	Hosted The Discussion, Sundays at 3pm, 2021 until May 2022
Now	Reporter, CBS News, London
Radio	Regular panellist, BBC Radio 4’s Moral Maze, since 2023
Trustee	National Portrait Gallery, appointed September 2021
Also	Event convenor, Civic Future; judge, Baillie Gifford Prize 2025
Writing	The Telegraph, The Times, The Daily Mail, UnHerd, Spiked
Political party	None. Stood for the Brexit Party in 2019
Partner, family	Not something she discusses publicly
Net worth	No verified figure exists
Wikipedia page	Yes

How old is Inaya Folarin Iman?

She was born on 8 November 1996 in Tooting, south London, and is 29 in 2026, turning 30 in November.

This is one of the few cases on this beat where the date is documented rather than guessed. Her Wikipedia entry carries it, and it matches the timeline of everything else: a Brexit Party candidacy in 2019 at 22, the founding of The Equiano Project in 2020 at 23, and a national television slot in 2021 at 24.

Inaya Folarin Iman’s background and education

She was born in London to Nigerian parents and grew up in Kent with her mother and sister. Her mother is Mobolaji Atinuke Anike.

She read Arabic and International Relations at the University of Leeds. The Arabic is worth noting because it drives a recurring search: people assume from her name and her degree that she is Muslim. By her own public account she is not, and describes herself in agnostic terms.

Her first job after Leeds was at Index on Censorship, the free expression organisation. Everything she has done since runs through that subject.

What is The Equiano Project?

It is the work that defines her public profile, and the name is the argument in miniature.

She founded it in 2020 and named it after Olaudah Equiano, the eighteenth-century abolitionist and writer who bought his own freedom and campaigned against the slave trade. The organisation describes itself as a debate, discussion and ideas forum focused on race, culture and politics, promoting open dialogue and classical liberal values.

In practice it is a booking and convening operation as much as a publisher. Its public record is a log of arguments made in mainstream venues rather than a body of research. She argued against Britain paying reparations to descendants of slaves on BBC Radio 4’s AntiSocial, and criticised the Church of England’s reparations payments on ITV’s Good Morning Britain. She debated immigration for Sky History in September 2025. On Moral Maze in October 2025 she argued that rapid demographic change produces real cultural anxiety and identity dislocation that ought to be addressed, while insisting racism should be condemned without qualification.

She has also written on language: a Telegraph piece welcomed broadcasters dropping the acronym BAME, while arguing it was only a partial victory.

That is the consistent position. She rejects group-based framing of identity and argues for common humanity and individual character, and she makes the case inside BBC and ITV programmes rather than only in friendly outlets.

Inaya Folarin Iman on GB News

She was signed by GB News for its 2021 launch and hosted The Discussion, a weekly culture and politics programme that went out on Sundays at 3pm in a one-hour slot.

It ran for eighteen episodes. The last went out on 8 May 2022, and the show ended there.

She has not presented for the channel since, which is the single most common error in pages about her. A profile calling her a current GB News presenter is at least four years out of date.

The 2019 controversy

This belongs in any honest account of her, and most pages leave it out.

In 2019 she helped found the Free Speech Youth Advisory Board, which became Free Speech Champions. The Guardian reported that the body was an astroturfed front for the Free Speech Union, the organisation founded by the journalist Toby Young, and the criticism attached to her.

By late 2022 she stated that she was no longer involved with GB News or the Free Speech Union, and was not a member of any political party.

The party detail matters because of what came before it. In 2019 she stood as a Brexit Party candidate in Leeds North East. She was 22. That candidacy is the thing her critics reach for first and the thing her own biography now omits.

What Inaya Folarin Iman does now

Her main job is reporting for CBS News from London, which is a different kind of work from opinion broadcasting: a network correspondent explains events to an American audience rather than arguing about them.

Alongside that she remains director of The Equiano Project, appears as a regular panellist on Moral Maze, convenes events for Civic Future, and judged the Baillie Gifford Prize in 2025. She was appointed a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery in September 2021, with a brief covering cultural and youth engagement.

The trajectory is the story. She went from campaigning organisation to political candidate to opinion television to an American news network and a national gallery board, all before turning thirty. Very few people on British opinion television have moved towards institutions rather than away from them.

Inaya Folarin Iman’s family, partner and net worth

She has spoken publicly about her upbringing, because her arguments about integration and identity draw on it: born in London to Nigerian parents, raised in Kent by her mother alongside her sister.

Beyond that she does not discuss her private life, and no established outlet has reported on a partner. Pages naming one are guessing.

Net worth is invention. She holds a reporting job at a broadcaster that does not publish individual pay, directs a small organisation, writes freelance and takes speaking fees. There is no filing that would show any of it, and no method behind the figures circulating.

On funding, which is the other question people search: The Equiano Project does not publish a detailed donor list, and the 2019 astroturfing report is why the question gets asked. Anyone claiming to know who funds it should be asked to show the document.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Inaya Folarin Iman?

A British journalist and commentator, founder and director of The Equiano Project, and a reporter for CBS News based in London. She previously presented The Discussion on GB News and is a regular panellist on BBC Radio 4’s Moral Maze.

Is Inaya Folarin Iman still on GB News?

No. She hosted The Discussion on Sundays until May 2022, when the programme ended after eighteen episodes. Her main role since has been at CBS News.

How old is Inaya Folarin Iman?

She was born on 8 November 1996 and is 29 in 2026.

Is Inaya Folarin Iman Muslim?

No. The question comes up because her first name is Arabic and she studied Arabic at university, but by her own public account she is not, and she has described her position in agnostic terms.

What is The Equiano Project?

A debate and ideas forum she founded in 2020, focused on race, culture and politics and promoting open dialogue and classical liberal values. It is named after the abolitionist Olaudah Equiano.

Did Inaya Folarin Iman stand for the Brexit Party?

Yes. She was a Brexit Party candidate in Leeds North East in 2019, at the age of 22. She has since said she is not a member of any political party.

Where did Inaya Folarin Iman study?

The University of Leeds, where she read Arabic and International Relations. Her first job afterwards was at Index on Censorship.

What else does she do?

She is a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery, an event convenor for Civic Future, and was a judge for the Baillie Gifford Prize in 2025. Her writing appears in The Telegraph, The Times, The Daily Mail, UnHerd and Spiked.

She stood for a party at 22, founded her own forum at 23, had a national television show at 24, and reports for an American network at 29.

Half the internet still describes her as a GB News presenter.