Meet Michael Bright: He is the Wisconsin British Consul for the U.K. and his ultimate boss is the British Ambassador to the U.S. He has special ties with the British government, but even with such an international aura surrounding him, Bright is your ordinary middle-aged, Madison-born citizen—intelligent, politically-minded, driven and a crisp communicator.
As Bright described it, he is the ""eyes and ears"" of Britain here in the Dairy State. He keeps connections strong between the British government and Wisconsin, educating and informing Wisconsinites about what goes on in the United Kingdom.
The true grime of his job as consul requires an analysis of trade, investment, cultural affairs and diplomatic relations between Wisconsin and Britain.
He performs his duty to the British government on top of the full time consulting firm he runs—and he does it without receiving any salary.
""There's a small stipend—but it certainly doesn't cover gas and I would venture to say that it doesn't cover postage,"" Bright said with a laugh.
But it is apparent that Bright loves his post. He has officially served Britain for more than five years. Before that, he had worked on and off with the Chicago Consul General's office. He said he serves as consul in Wisconsin because he enjoys it—even though it probably costs him some $60,000 of his time.
So how did Bright obtain his self-described position as a ""seriously overused volunteer?"" Essentially, U.K. Ambassador to the U.S. David Manning, who runs the embassy in Washington D.C., chooses several Consul Generals stationed throughout the U.S. to assist with his ambassador duties. Those Generals report directly to Manning.
Bright said he jokingly tells people, ""I'm the highest ... and the lowest ranking diplomat in the state.""
But he does play a critical role in the correlation of the world's two most powerful English speaking governments. Bright covers the entire state of Wisconsin, and is responsible for reporting to the Chicago Consul General. He is the first person Britain looks to when dealing with Wisconsin regarding any issue, ranging from joint stem cell research projects, to arranging for British government officials to come speak about Britain's stance on the Iraq War and scientific research on global warming.
He also pays close attention to the well-being of British nationals. ""If there was a plane accident and there were British nationals on board, I would try to be the first on the scene,"" Bright said.
Though political by nature, Bright, who worked for both parties at the Wisconsin Capitol before becoming a consultant—said he does not ""issue policy statements for the British government."" Rather, he is responsible for bringing in British representatives to come speak to the Wisconsin people about the country's policies.
Before receiving his masters from UW-Madison, Bright did his undergraduate work at American University. His junior year he had the opportunity to study abroad in London, working in the Parliament with five fellow American University students and six British students.
He said he was fortunate enough to be the only member of the group to work directly with a British minister.
To ""inhale"" the Parliament in such a direct manner had a ""profound impact"" on the way Bright viewed government and policy making.
