I am an experienced public policy adviser who has spent more than a decade working on issues related to artificial intelligence, data, and digital democracy. I have worked across government, financial services, and politics – including roles in the UK Civil Service, the House of Commons, KPMG, the Royal Society, and the Open Data Institute.
At 21 years old, I founded the technology policy think tank, WebRoots Democracy, which ran between 2014 and 2020. This was one of the first organisations dedicated to technology policy in the UK, hosting popular public events and publishing influential reports on digital democracy, facial recognition technology, and social media regulation.
I was an early proponent of regulating AI-generated content, leading a viral project on disinformation in 2019 which produced deepfake videos of Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn endorsing each other to be Prime Minister whilst warning viewers of the dangers of disinformation. As Head of Policy (Data and Digital Technologies) at the Royal Society, I worked with the world’s leading scientists on policy programmes related to AI for science, AI safety, disinformation, and data governance.
From 2022 to 2026, I served as an elected Councillor in the London Borough of Newham, representing Canning Town. I was the Green Party’s candidate for Mayor of Newham in the 2026 local elections, leading a campaign focused on the housing crisis and finishing third with 18,999 votes – an historic result for the party in Newham.
I understand how the system works, how political change occurs, and how to develop robust, evidence-based policy.
Areeq Chowdhury 