New Euro MP Jacqueline Foster says her office will be based in Wirral

Jun 17 2009 by Lorna Hughes, Birkenhead News

New Euro MP Jacqueline Foster says her office will be based in Wirral

FROM Oxton to Europe – Wirral now has its very own resident MEP.

Jacqueline Foster is one of three Conservatives who were elected to the European Parliament last week and will be making a return to Brussels after a five-year break.

Ms Foster will be commuting to work from her home in Oxton and says her office, which will open in July, will also be based in Wirral.

Since losing her seat in the 2004 election, she has worked as a consultant and advisor to the European aerospace industry in Brussels.

She told the News: “I’m delighted – I didn’t want to leave last time.

“My office will be in Wirral. I’m based in Oxton but I’m looking around to see where the best place is for it.

“I know Wirral’s councillors, particularly the Conservatives, and our party’s prospective MPs. I’ve worked with them before and although I’m in Europe, we work as a team.”

Ms Foster, who says she prefers not to reveal her age, was born in Liverpool. She spent 20 years working for British Airways and was also based in Austria for four years, working as an area manager for a UK travel company.

She has two Bouvier dogs called Will and Grace and cites her hobbies outside politics as tennis and skiing.

During her last stint as an MEP she specialised in transport issues – including the welfare of horses being transported from Eastern Europe.

In 2002 she made the headlines after a “grey area” in an EU Directive attracted attention from campaigners who hoped to use it as an argument against the controversial Mersey Tunnels Bill.

Ms Foster said: “ I have a lifetime of expertise in transport and industry and I think they’re very important to our area, for example we’ve got Vauxhall in Ellesmere Port and Airbus nearby in Broughton.”

Despite the low turnout at the European elections – just 31.9% in the North West – Ms Foster argues that the European Parliament plays an important role in Wirral because its decisions filter down to local level.