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Don Foster
Liberal Democrat MP for Bath
- Shadow Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, and Olympics (since 8 Jan 2009)
- Entered Parliament on 9 April 1992 — General election
- Majority: 4,638 votes. — 465th out of 643 MPs.
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- Voting record
- Committees and topics of interest
- Most recent appearances
- Numerology
- Register of Members’ Interests
- Expenses
Voting record (from PublicWhip)
How Don Foster voted on key issues since 2001:
- Voted moderately for a transparent Parliament. votes, speeches
- Voted moderately for introducing a smoking ban. votes, speeches
- Voted very strongly against introducing ID cards. votes, speeches
- Voted very strongly against introducing foundation hospitals. votes, speeches
- Voted strongly against introducing student top-up fees. votes, speeches
- Voted very strongly against Labour's anti-terrorism laws. votes, speeches
- Voted very strongly against the Iraq war. votes, speeches
- Voted very strongly for an investigation into the Iraq war. votes, speeches
- Voted very strongly against replacing Trident. votes, speeches
- Voted very strongly for the hunting ban. votes, speeches
- Voted strongly for equal gay rights. votes, speeches
- Voted very strongly for laws to stop climate change. votes, speeches
Read about how the voting record is decided.
More on well-known issues (from the Guardian) & their full record
- Hardly ever rebels against their party in this parliament.
Committees and topics of interest
Asks most questions about
- Departments: Culture Media and Sport, Transport, Transport, Local Government and the Regions, Home Department, Health
- Subjects (based on headings added by Hansard): Railways, Olympic Games, Olympic Games 2012, Rail Safety, Sports: Finance
(based on written questions asked by Don Foster and answered by departments)
Public Bill Committees (sittings attended)
- Holocaust (Stolen Art) Restitution Bill Committee (0 out of n/a)
- Digital Switchover (Disclosure of Information) Bill Committee (2 out of n/a)
- National Lottery Bill Committee (8 out of n/a)
- London Olympics Bill Committee (4 out of n/a)
- Gambling Bill Committee (2 out of n/a)
- Gambling Bill Committee (6 out of n/a)
- Horserace Betting and Olympic Lottery Bill Committee (5 out of n/a)
- Railways and Transport Safety Bill Committee (18 out of n/a)
- Travel Concessions (Eligibility) Bill Committee (2 out of n/a)
- Homelessness Bill Committee (3 out of n/a)
- Homes Bill Committee (12 out of n/a)
Most recent appearances
- Written Answers — Business, Innovation and Skills: Broadband (3 Feb 2010)
“To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many UK households do not have access to broadband internet services.”
- Written Answers — Olympics: Olympic Games 2012: Apprentices (3 Feb 2010)
“To ask the Minister for the Olympics how much has been spent on the apprenticeship scheme associated with the London 2012 Olympics.”
- Written Answers — Culture Media and Sport: Sports: Finance (2 Feb 2010)
“To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much and what proportion of Sport England's (a) grant-in-aid and (b) lottery funding has been spent on operating costs in each of the last three years.”
More of Don Foster's recent appearances
Numerology
Please note that numbers do not measure quality. Also, representatives may do other things not currently covered by this site. (More about this)
- Has spoken in 24 debates in the last year — average amongst MPs.
- Has received answers to 274 written questions in the last year — well above average amongst MPs.
- Is a member of 0 select committees (0 as chair).
- Replied within 2 or 3 weeks to a medium number of messages sent via WriteToThem.com during 2008, according to constituents.
- Has voted in 75% of votes in parliament with this affiliation — above average amongst MPs. (From Public Whip)
- People have made 6 annotations on this MP’s speeches — average amongst MPs.
- This MP's speeches, in Hansard, are readable by an average 18–19 year old, going by the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score.
- 99 people are tracking whenever this MP speaks — email me whenever Don Foster speaks.
- Has used three-word alliterative phrases (e.g. "she sells seashells") 724 times in debates — well above average amongst MPs. (Why is this here?)
Register of Members’ Interests
Register last updated: 6 Jan 2010. More about the Register
View the history of this MP's entries in the Register
Expenses
Figures in brackets are ranks. Data from parliament.uk (source). Read 2004/05 – 2008/09 and 1st quarter 2009/10 receipts.
| Type | 2008/09 (ranking out of 647) | 2007/08 (ranking out of 645) | 2006/07 (ranking out of 645) | 2005/06 | 2004/05 (ranking out of 659) | 2003/04 (ranking out of 658) | 2002/03 (ranking out of 657) | 2001/02 (ranking out of 657) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staying away from main home | £19,018 (323rd) | £22,754 (243rd) | £21,955 (268th) | £21,012 | £15,504 (472nd) | £16,134 (432nd) | £19,722 (joint 1st with 230 others) | £15,903 (196th) |
| London costs | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| Office running costs | £20,006 (214th) | £20,266 (225th) | £20,654 (266th) | £21,358 | £18,123 (347th) | £17,868 (474th) | £18,206 (joint 263rd with 2 others) | £21,414 (126th) |
| Staffing costs | £95,386 (joint 323rd with 1 other) | £93,729 (88th) | £88,978 (91st) | £75,750 | £69,875 (385th) | £68,022 (joint 300th with 6 others) | £63,740 (360th) | £45,383 (352nd) |
| Communications Allowance | £7,141 (397th) | £9,196 (266th) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Members' Travel | £7,412 (317th)3 | £5,155 (456th)2 | £6,100 (396th)1 | £6,449 | £7,809 (433rd) | £8,369 (389th) | £7,567 (425th) | £6,449 (399th) |
| Members' Staff Travel | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £77 (435th) | £252 (joint 346th with 1 other) | £568 (joint 241st with 1 other) | £197 (joint 358th with 1 other) |
| Members' Spouse Travel | £658 (172nd) | £542 (210th) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Members' Family Travel | £0 | £0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Centrally Purchased Stationery | £3,240 (347th) | £978 (234th) | £725 (406th) | £771 | £818 (354th) | £639 (441st) | £1,159 (270th) | £1,409 (joint 195th with 2 others) |
| Stationery: Associated Postage Costs | £1,792 (415th) | £1,893 (joint 432nd with 2 others) | £1,843 | £1,447 (500th) | £1,097 (joint 549th with 1 other) | N/A | N/A | |
| Centrally Provided Computer Equipment | £1,346 (joint 121st with 7 others) | £1,142 (joint 175th with 17 others) | £0 | £1,914 (joint 274th with 1 other) | £1,914 (270th) | £1,914 (267th) | £1,914 (253rd) | |
| Other Costs | £0 | £1,148 (72nd) | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| Total | £152,860 (291st) | £156,906 (146th) | £141,447 (252nd) | £127,183 | £115,567 (483rd) | £114,295 (437th) | £112,876 (329th) | £92,669 (216th) |
2 Regular journeys between home/constituency/Westminster: Mileage £3,528 (252nd). Rail £963 (440th). Other: Rail £95 (121st). European £569 (96th).
3 Regular journeys between home/constituency/Westminster: Mileage £5,170 (79th). Rail £1,964 (355th). Other: Rail £4 (171st). European £274 (124th).