Lord Foster of Bath

Lord Foster of Bath (born Donald Michael Ellison Foster on 31 March 1947) is a British Liberal Democrat life peer and former MP for Bath who has dedicated much of his recent career to advocating for tighter regulation of gambling. After earning a BSc in physics and psychology from Keele University and a teaching certificate, he taught science at Sevenoaks School before becoming Director of the Avon Science Project and later a lecturer in education at the University of Bristol. He also served as a councillor on Avon County Council and as group leader of the SDP–Liberal Alliance.

Foster entered Parliament in 1992 as the MP for Bath, holding the seat until 2015. During his Commons career he served as Liberal Democrat spokesperson for education, transport, and culture, media and sport. In the coalition government he was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (2012–2013) and then Government Deputy Chief Whip and Comptroller of the Household (2013–2015). He was made a life peer in 2015.

Since leaving the Commons, Lord Foster has focused on gambling harm reduction. He chairs Peers for Gambling Reform, a cross-party parliamentary group that campaigns on issues including loot box regulation, gambling advertising bans, and fixed-odds betting terminals. He regularly speaks in Lords debates and at iGaming conferences, maintaining a prominent public profile as a critic of industry practices.