Paul Foster-Bell is has been a National MP since 2013 when he came in via the party list to replace Jackie Blue when she resigned from Parliament.
He seems to have a problem with his staff. According to Newshub he has had 12 employees leave his office in his three years as an MP.
According to one ex-staff member he is good at going to events but not good at managing his office.
As well as working as a diplomat Foster-Bell has been around the political traps a bit:
- 2002 stood in Dunedin South (National did very poorly that year)
- 2011 stood in Wellington Central and got 32.51%, less than National’s 38.42%
(Grant Robertson won with 49.15%, Labour got 26.56%).
- 2011 placed at 56 on National’s list and missed the cut, with several lower placed candidates winning electorates.
- 2014 stood in Wellington Central and got less, 30.09% (National 37.54%)
(Grant Robertson won with 51.64%, Labour got 23.78%)
Foster-Bell has had an unremarkable 3 years in Parliament. He is one of the lowest placed MPs in National’s pecking order apart from MPs who got in at the 2014 election.
His website shows that he is the Deputy Chair of Government Administration Select Committee and a member of the Local Government and Environment Select Committee.
His website indicates he churns out media releases and is active on Facebook and Twitter.
UPDATE: Newshub now has the story up: National MP Paul Foster-Bell accused of bullying
National List MP Paul Foster-Bell is refusing to explain the high turnover of staff in his office.
He’s had 12 employees leave over the past three years, in what’s understood to be one of the highest employee turnover rates of any current, non-ministerial MP.
Newshub has been told by a handful of former staff members the reasons for the turnover include relationship breakdowns, an untenable work environment and jumping ship to other offices because of better offers.
Some of the woes have included internal mediation sessions, employment lawyers and interventions from Parliament’s human resources staff.
Two of the cases involve staff members who, on separate occasions, complained to Parliamentary Service about Mr Foster-Bell’s conduct, claiming he tried forcing each of them to resign.
In one of those cases, it’s understood Mr Foster-Bell called the worker into his office, told them they were resigning, and emailed news of the “resignation” to National’s whips’ office and to Parliamentary Service.
Lawyers were involved in an out-of-court mediation process, which saw the employee leave with a compensatory pay-out. A source close to the situation told Newshub: “The fact is, he’s a bully.”
The other case saw a loyal and long-serving staff member told to resign by Mr Foster-Bell, and even given a resignation date because they had been upfront about wanting a career change.
Another source told Newshub: “They gave Paul the courtesy of telling him they wanted a new challenge, and a career change. But then without even getting, or even looking for, a new job, or even thinking about resigning, Paul gave them a specific end date.”
That case also ended up in a dispute with Parliamentary Service, which sided with the staff member, claiming Mr Foster-Bell’s conduct wasn’t consistent with employment law.
