Reform UK has appointed an AI specialist as its new chairman for Wokingham, with Wokingham Without parish councillor Colin Wright taking over from former borough council leader John Halsal.
Mr Halsal, 78, who built the local branch over 18 months, will remain as deputy chairman “to ensure a smooth handover”.
He 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’.
A strong advocate for artificial intelligence, he said: “I use all of them… it gives power to the individual who hasn’t had it before.”
Colin Wright who lives in Old Wokingham Road has a successful career in IT – cyber security – and has already proven his skills in AI to reduce his carbon footprint.
When he stood for election to the borough council, Mr Wright sent the LDRS photographs of himself next to a ‘Wokingham Without’ roadsign and also a photo at Nine Mile Ride’s Heath Lakes, both generated by Anthropic Claude, thus saving the petrol required to actually go there.
Mr Wright is very familiar with AI technology and the ‘large language models’ or ‘foundation models’ on which AI systems are built, but he had no particular favourite.
“I use all of them,” he said. “It gives power to the individual who hasn’t had it before.”
Mr Wright is very familiar with AI technology and the ‘large language models’ or ‘foundation models’ on which AI systems are built, but he had no particular favourite.
“I use all of them,” he said. “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,” although he noted its flaws: “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.”
Mr Wright said parish politics should remain non-partisan despite his Reform UK role: “As a parish councillor, politics doesn’t come into it and shouldn’t come into it.”
He highlighted Pinewood as a key community asset, calling it “a little golden gem”, but raised concerns about road access: “Turning out of Pinewood is a complex issue… Wokingham council have got to address this.”
On development, he was unequivocal. “The key priority is over-development. It’s absolutely ridiculous,” he said. “Are both councils talking to each other?… it’s just not sustainable. We don’t have the infrastructure.”
He criticised planned housing growth, adding: “The proposed 850 extra houses beggar belief… the road infrastructure isn’t good enough.”
Referring to wider strategic developments, he warned: “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.”
Mr Wright said his motivation is to represent residents: “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.”
