AI Expert Takes Helm at Wokingham Reform UK

Reform UK has appointed AI specialist Colin Wright as its new Wokingham chairman. The Wokingham Without parish councillor takes over from former borough leader John Halsal, who will remain deputy "to ensure a smooth handover".

Mr Halsal said: "Colin is a very capable, competent and trustworthy person... now it's time to move on and give it to younger folk."

Mr Wright, an Old Wokingham Road resident, has a background in cyber security and co-founded the AI firm 'Efficient Ether'. When he stood for the borough council he sent the LDRS photos of himself next to a 'Wokingham Without' roadsign and at Nine Mile Ride's Heath Lakes generated by Anthropic Claude, saving the petrol the trips would have required.

On AI, he said: "I use all of them... it gives power to the individual who hasn't had it before."

He added: "I love AI because people think 'it'll cost me my job' - but it won't," and warned its limits: "AI is terrible for pictures... you have to treat AI like a child in certain contexts."

Mr Wright was recently co-opted onto Wokingham Without Parish Council. Council leader Nicholas Martin said: "Colin has attended a lot of our public meetings... I think he'll make a fantastic local councillor."

He said parish politics should stay aside from party lines: "As a parish councillor, politics doesn't come into it and shouldn't come into it."

On local issues he praised Pinewood as "a little golden gem" but warned: "Turning out of Pinewood is a complex issue... Wokingham council have got to address this."

On development he warned of over-building: "The key priority is over-development. It's absolutely ridiculous," and asked: "Are both councils talking to each other?... it's just not sustainable. We don't have the infrastructure." He also said: "The proposed 850 extra houses beggar belief... the road infrastructure isn't good enough."

He cautioned: "In the four strategic development locations they're going to bring 10,000 new houses... a huge demolition of the green area." "I'm not a nimby... but the infrastructure's just not there... there's got to be a balance."

His motivation, he said, is simple: "I want to help those individuals who don't have a voice... surely infrastructure should be fixed first before putting in more and more houses."

Ted O'Neill, Local Democracy Reporter