Don Foster
Encyclopedia : D : DO : DON : Don Foster
- This page is about the British politician. See Donald Foster for the American professor.
Biography
Foster was born in Preston, Lancashire, and educated at the Lancaster Royal Grammar School and Keele University where he was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and psychology in 1969 and also received the Certificate in Education the same year. He studied later for his master's degree in education at the University of Bath in 1981. He became a science teacher at the Sevenoaks School in Kent in 1969, before becoming a science project director with the Avon Education Authority in 1975. He became a lecturer in education at the University of Bristol in 1980, becoming a management consultant with Pannell Kerr Forster from 1989 until his election to the House of Commons.As a local party activist he was a founder member of the Avon Liberal Democrats and was elected as a councillor to the Avon County Council in 1981 for Cabot ward, and was the SDP-Liberal Alliance group leader from 1981-6, he also served as the county's education committee chairman, and he remained a councillor until 1989. He unsuccessfully contested Bristol East at the 1987 General Election where he finished in third place some 11,659 votes behind the sitting Conservative MP Jonathan Sayeed. He was elected at the 1992 General Election when he famously beat then-Chairman of the Conservative Party Chris Patten at Bath. He won the seat with a majority of 3,768 and remains the MP. He spoke of the World Heritage Site status of Bath and sent his best wishes to Patten in Hong Kong in his maiden speech on May 12, 1992.[link]
In parliament Foster became a spokesman on education under the leadership of Paddy Ashdown in 1992 in which capacity he remained until 1999 when he entered the Shadow Cabinet of Charles Kennedy as the Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, following the 2001 General Election he was the Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, and has been the Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport since 2003.
Foster supports a number of local charities, including Ted's Big Day Out and Julian House. His main national charity is WaterAid and has seen first hand their work in Ethiopia.
Foster has been married to Victoria Jane Dorcas Pettegree since 1968 and they have a son and a daughter and two grandsons. His other interests include Third World issues; he is a member of Amnesty International and the Child Poverty Action Group. He also enjoys sport, music, ballet travelling and reading.
Publications
- Resource Based Learning in Science by Don Foster, 1979, Association for Science Education ISBN 0902786520
- Science with Gas by Don Foster, 1981
- Aspects of Science by Don Foster, 1984, Longman ISBN 0201143771
- Reading about Science by Don Foster, 1984
- Nuffield Science by Don Foster, 1986
- Teaching Science 11-13 Edited by Don Foster, Cecil Powell and Roger Lock, 1987, Routledge ISBN 0709949316
- Education: Investing in Education by Don Foster, 1994, Liberal Democrat Publications ISBN 1851872434
- Making the Right Start: Nursery Education and Care by Don Foster, 1994, Liberal Democrat Publications ISBN 1851872647
- From the Three Rs to the Three Cs: A Personal View of Education by Don Foster, 2003 ISBN 0954607805
See also
External links
- [Don Foster MP] official site
- [Don Foster MP] profile at the site of Liberal Democrats
- [Bath Liberal Democrats]
- [ePolitix.com - Don Foster] unofficial site
- [Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Don Foster MP]
- [TheyWorkForYou.com - Don Foster MP]
- [The Public Whip - Don Foster MP] voting record
- [BBC News - Don Foster] BBC profile
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