Michael Jabez Foster

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Michael Jabez Foster was the Labour member of parliament for Hastings and Rye between 1997 and 2010.

After losing his seat as part of the Conservative swing in the 2010 election he returned to private practice as a solicitor, specialising in employment law.

Career

Foster was the Labour MP for Hastings and Rye between 1997 and 2010. In 1997 he won 34.4 percent of the vote, 47.1 percent in 2000, 42.1 percent in 2005 and 37.1 percent in 2010, coming second to Amber Rudd of the Conservative Party.[1] Whilst in Parliament he held the roles of parliamentary private secretary to Rt Hon Lord Goldsmith and Rt Hon Harriet Harman, member of the statutory instruments joint committee, work and pensions committee and draft legal services bill, chairman of the draft constitutional renewal bill and parliamentary secretary to the Government Equalities Office.[2]

Revolving door

  • Return to private practice as a solicitor, specialising in employment law, July 2010. The move was approved by ACOBA who saw "no reason why he should not do so forthwith, subject to the conditions that he should not draw on any privileged information that was available to him as a Minister, and, for 12 months after leaving office, he should not become personally involved in lobbying UK Ministers or Crown servants, including Special Advisers, on behalf of his clients. The Committee clarifies that its recommendation concerning lobbying is not intended to prevent him from contacting government officials, via the channels that would be expected to be used by a solicitor in such cases, in the normal course of representing his clients interests".[3]

Notes

  1. Hastings and Rye The Guardian, accessed 4 December 2014
  2. Michael Jabez Foster They Work For You, accessed 4 December 2014
  3. Twelfth Report 2010-2011 Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, accessed 4 December 2014