Parliamentary career
Foster stood as the Conservative candidate in Coventry South at the 2010 general election,coming second with 33.4% of the vote behind the incumbent Labour Party MP Jim Cunningham. [7] [8] [9] [10]
Foster was elected as MP for Torbay at the 2015 general election with 40.7% of the vote and a majority of 3,286. [11] [12] [13] His election agent Alison Hernandez was investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission over allegations she failed to properly declare election expenses that were submitted in her role. [14] This investigation was later dropped in 2017 by the Crown Prosecution Service as although "the returns may have been inaccurate,there is insufficient evidence to prove to the criminal standard that any candidate or agent was dishonest". [15]
Foster supported the United Kingdom remaining within the European Union at the 2016 Brexit referendum. [16] Since then,he has almost always voted against UK membership of the EU in Parliament. [17]
At the snap 2017 general election,Foster was re-elected as MP for Torbay with an increased vote share of 53% and an increased majority of 14,283. [18] [19]
Foster voted for Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit withdrawal agreement in early 2019. [20] He was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) in the Department for Communities and Local Government. [21] He later became PPS to then Minister for the Cabinet Office David Lidington. [22]
In July 2019,following Boris Johnson becoming prime minister,Foster served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Cabinet Office,Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Wales Office,and an assistant government whip. [23]
Foster was again re-elected at the 2019 general election with an increased vote share of 59.2% and an increased majority of 17,749. [24]
In February 2022,Foster received widespread criticism for stating on Twitter that Ukrainian refugees could use the seasonal worker scheme in order to get into the UK. Scottish First Minister,Nicola Sturgeon,and Shadow Foreign Secretary,David Lammy,were among the critics,with the latter saying that Foster's comments showed 'a shameful moral vacuum at the heart of Government'. Foster deleted the tweet within hours. [25] [26]
Foster endorsed Liz Truss in the July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election. [27] Following Truss's election as Prime Minister,Foster was appointed as Minister of State for Transport with responsibility for rail. [28] He left the government following Rishi Sunak's appointment as Prime Minister and returned to the backbenches. [29]
In June 2023,Foster was re-selected as the Conservative candidate for Torbay. In the 2024 general election, [30] he lost the election to Liberal Democrat Steve Darling. [31]
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