Councillor Richard Swift

Deputy Mayor of Cambridge

Richard Swift born in Crawley, Sussex in 1958 trained in Art and Art History at the Universities of Reading and London. In the 1980s, he co-founded the Chisenhale Arts Complex in Tower Hamlets, London which has promoted community engagement through its outreach programme, aswell as launching the career of three Turner prize-winners.

Richard went on to teach Art and Cultural History at a range of art schools, Further Education and Higher Education Colleges and Universities.

He is a firm believer in the importance of the creative industries as a major contributor to the cultural and economic life of the UK.

(Richard confesses that his understanding of AI is limited to reading Yuval Noah Harari’s ‘Homo Deus’ but is keen to learn more about this major development in human evolution.’)