She worked in publishing, and then as a researcher in television, including on Wogan,[5][6] before moving to political fundraising for the Labour Party before the 1992 General Election.

[11] Hobsbawm was appointed an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list in 2015 for services to business.

[12] She is a patron of the Facial Surgery Research Foundation and the Zoe Sarojini Trust, a charity educating girls in South Africa, and was a founding trustee in the UK of OurBrainBank.

[citation needed] In 2024, Hobsbawm was one of five women who accused Neil Gaiman of sexual assault and abuse.

Hobsbawm described an encounter in 1986 at her studio flat in London, where Gaiman made “an aggressive, unwanted pass,” “jumped her,” pushing her onto a sofa and forced his tongue into her mouth.