Michael Foster was born in Hastings, East Sussex and attended the local Hastings Secondary School for Boys and the Hastings Grammar School before attending the University of Leicester where he received a Master of Laws (LLM) degree.
He was elected as a councillor to the Hastings Borough Council in 1970, becoming the Labour group leader for a year in 1973, serving on the council until 1977, he was again elected to the Borough Council 1981-1985.