Michael Jabez Foster
| Michael Jabez Foster | |
|---|---|
|
Member of Parliament for Hastings and Rye |
|
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In office 1 May 1997 – 12 April 2010 |
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| Preceded by | Jacqui Lait |
| Succeeded by | Amber Rudd |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
26 February 1946 Hastings, East Sussex |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse(s) | Rosemary Kemp |
| Alma mater | University of Leicester |
| Website | www.michaelfosterlaw.co.uk |
Michael Jabez Foster (born 26 February 1946) is a former Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hastings and Rye from 1997 until 2010. He was the Minister for Equalities, responsible for the progress of the Government's Equalities Bill through the House of Commons, a role he held since June 2009.
Michael Foster was born in Hastings, East Sussex and attended the local Hastings Secondary School for Boys and the Hastings Grammar School before attending the University of Leicester where he received a Master of Laws (LLM) degree. Between 1963 and 1972 he worked as a litigation clerk; he was admitted as a solicitor in 1980 and later worked as a partner of Fynmores Solicitors in Bexhill-on-Sea specialising in employment law until 1998.
He was elected as a councillor to the Hastings Borough Council in 1970, becoming the Labour group leader for a year in 1973, serving on the council until 1977, he was again elected to the Borough Council 1981-1985. He received a dual mandate in 1974 when he was also elected as a councillor to the East Sussex County Council, becoming the deputy Labour group leader 1984-1992, he stood down from the county council in 1997.
He unsuccessfully contested Hastings at both the February and October 1974 general elections and again at the 1979 General Election, and on each occasion was defeated by the sitting Conservative MP Kenneth Warren. He won Hastings and Rye at the 1997 General Election when he became the second least expected Labour MP in the landslide. He defeated the new sitting Conservative MP Jacqui Lait by 2,560 votes and remained the MP until 2010. He made his maiden speech on 21 November 1997.
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