Paul Foster-Bell will become an MP at the end of May when Jackie Blue leaves parliament to become Equal Opportunities Commissioner.
. . .Mr Foster-Bell is currently on posting with MFAT as Deputy Head of Mission at the New Zealand Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. His previous appointments include Deputy Director for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Chief of Protocol, First Secretary and Consul at the New Zealand Embassy in Tehran, and Regional Manager within MFAT’s Security Directorate.
He is an archaeologist by training, has a business diploma from the University of Otago, and also studied history at Oxford.
He was active in the National Party in Dunedin when he was a student and stood in Dunedin South although he knew he wouldn’t win the electorate and at that stage was very unlikely to gain a list seat.
He stayed loyal, stood again in Wellington Central last year and now will enter parliament.
Some people question why anyone would stand in a seat they couldn’t win.
A good campaign will help with the party vote and won’t go unnoticed.
Paul’s journey to parliament shows the willingness to take on tiger country can be part of a longer game and that perseverance and loyalty pay off.
His campaign experience and work history will both be assets in his career as an MP.
