About Hannah
Hannah considers herself a multi-purpose Brit, having lived in almost every region of the country. However, Devon is where her family go back over four generations and where she calls home. Hannah is married to David, a Royal Navy Officer, and they live in Pinhoe. David has spent most of the last two decades on the South West peninsula. Hannah is stepmother to David’s four children.
Hannah works as a Human Resources Director. Her career has taken her across different businesses within the Pearson Group namely the Financial Times, FT.com and Penguin books before moving to the service side of the business related to Government contracts. Until end of 2006 she was heading up all employment issues for Pearson VUE, the professional testing business that delivers computer based tests such as the Theory Driving Test delivered in most towns and cities around the country, including Exeter. More recently she worked in business creating tests in English for non-native speakers and large cross-company HR projects. Her role involves all people related issues looking to innovate and raise standards in education in Britain and abroad. She is now on unpaid leave to allow for time for working on Exeter matters.
Hannah was schooled in Buckinghamshire, Surrey and Rutland. She did a postgraduate at London Guildhall to gain membership of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and has a BA Hons from the University of Sunderland, which included a year studying in the USA.
In her time she has worked in the slums of Delhi, dug wells in Uganda, given out soup to the homeless and sat on Deanery Synod. She helped start the Westminster Challenge (http://www.westminsterchallenge.org/). She is also a Chapter Canon of Exeter Cathedral (a lay member of the Chapter) a Trustee at St Petrock’s the centre supporting the homeless in Exeter and a Governor at St Luke’s Sports and Science College.
Hannah loves films, food and wine as well as being a keen traveller and water-skier. She enjoys walking and fly fishing when time allows – not with great success!
Hannah Foster's Experience
Hannah was National Chairman of Conservative Future (CF) for the maximum term until October 2002. Hannah worked hard to raise youth issues at all levels of the Party and across the media. She won the first Ashcroft Prize for outstanding contribution to Conservative Youth Politics.
Her achievements include: introducing Policy Future a forum for young people to input to policy, achieving the first directly elected Conservative on to the National Union of Students in nearly a decade, introducing new programme for under and postgraduates in the Party. Putting together campaigns on Tuition Fees, Student Debt and 24 hour drinking. Hannah and her team put together the Conservative School Mock Election programme for 2001, which the Tories won.
Hannah has hosted a main Conference platform debates at Party Conference, taking part in fringe events and introduced Iain Duncan-Smith for the leader's speech in October 2002. She spoke at the 2007 party conference on democracy in local government.
Hannah has written articles for The House Magazine, Heartland and was a contributing author to "There is such a thing as society" a book focusing on modern compassionate conservatism.
Hannah was selected as the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Exeter in March 2007. She was picked by local people at an open meeting. Since selection Hannah has opened up Conservative policy debate by discussing the Party’s policy commissions with local people.
