Glaister named boss of RAC Foundation

A keen cyclist and supporter of public transport, Glaister is set to officially take up his post at the charity, which campaigns on the behalf of motorists, from September.

Speaking to NCE this morning, Glaister said that while the RAC foundation role would become his "day job" he would maintain links with Imperial College.

He said he had taken on the RAC role because he considered roads the most important infrastructure for the economy and he intended to dedicate his time to lobbying the Government for a national roads strategy.

"The Government are not telling us how they will deal with the long term issues affecting roads," he said.

"On railways they are, but for roads there are no plans beyond 2015."

Today's appointment is not Glaister's first involvement with the RAC Foundation: in November 2007 he co-authored a report by the charity calling for road and tunnel construction to be funded by road user charging.

Glaister admitted that his new post represented a potential conflict of interests with his role as a Transport for London (TfL) board member.

"Yes, it is potentially a conflict of interest and we will have to wait and see what happens after the [London Mayoral] election," he said.

The TfL board members will be reappointed following the London Mayoral elections on May 1 and it looks likely that Glaister will step down then, before he starts his RAC role in September. Glaister said this had yet to be decided.

"That's an issue for the future," he added.

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