Michael Foster (Worcester MP)

Michael John Foster
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development
In office 5 October 2008 – 6 May 2010
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	Shahid Malik
Member of Parliament for Worcester
In office 1 May 1997 – 12 April 2010
Preceded by	Peter Luff
Succeeded by	Robin Walker
Majority	3,144 (6.8%)
Personal details
Born	(1963-03-14) 14 March 1963 Birmingham, England
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	Shauna Ogle
Alma mater	University of Wolverhampton

Michael John Foster (born 14 March 1963) is a former Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Worcester from 1997 until 2010, and was the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for International Development.

Early life

Michael Foster was born in Birmingham and was educated at the Great Wyrley High School in Great Wyrley near Cannock, and Wolverhampton Polytechnic (now Wolverhampton University) where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics in 1984. He later studied at the University of Wolverhampton where he received a Postgraduate Certificate in Education in 1995.

He followed in his father Brian's footsteps when he joined Jaguar Cars in 1984 as a financial analyst, becoming a senior analyst in 1985 and a management accountant in 1987. He left Jaguar in 1991 to become a lecturer in accountancy and finance at Worcester College of Technology, where he remained until he became an MP.

Parliamentary career

He joined the Labour Party in 1980, and was a shop steward for the Transport and General Workers' Union for two years from 1986. He became the secretary of the Worcestershire Mid Constituency Labour Party in 1987, and the secretary of the Worcester Constituency Labour Party for three years from 1992. Michael Foster was elected to the House of Commons at the 1997 General Election for Worcester with a majority of 7,425, and remained the MP there until 2010. He made his maiden speech on 2 June 1997., where he spoke of the constituency and the Royal Worcester porcelain. He was the only Labour MP ever to represent Worcester in parliament.

He joined the education and employment select committee in 1999, and after the 2001 General Election he served as the Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Minister of State at the Department for Education and Skills Margaret Hodge. After the 2005 General Election he became the PPS to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Peter Hain. In the reshuffle of May 2006, he entered the government as an assistant whip. In another reshuffle in October 2008, he was promoted to be a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for International Development.

Michael Foster is best known for his introduction of the private member's bill to ban hunting with dogs in 1997; although his bill did not become law, its principles were later passed into law by the Hunting Act 2004.

Michael Foster lost his seat to Robin Walker (Conservative) in the May 2010 election.

Personal life

He has been married to Shauna Ogle since 28 September 1985, and they have one son (Mark) and two daughters (Lucy and Katie). He is a member of the Worcestershire County Cricket Club.

External links

• Michael Foster official site
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Michael Foster MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Michael Foster MP
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Michael John Foster
• BBC Politics page

News items

• Wanting school kitchens to be improved in March 2005
• Wanting to scrap district councils in Worcestershire in January 2006
• Helping a newsagent get his lottery machine back in March 2004
• Protecting Worcester Sauce in March 2005