Henry Byron Davies, Baron Davies of Gower (born 4 September 1952), is a Welsh Conservative politician, Life Peer and former Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Inspector.
President of the Welsh Conservative Party since 2020, Lord Davies served as Shadow Secretary of State for Wales from July to November 2024. He was a Member of the Welsh Assembly for South Wales West from 2011 to 2015, and Member of Parliament for Gower from 2015 to 2017, before being elevated to the peerage in 2019.
Lord Davies currently serves as an Opposition spokesman for Home affairs in the House of Lords, since 11 November 2024.
Early life and career
Born in 1952 at Port Eynon on the Gower Peninsula, Byron Davies was educated at Knelston County Primary School and Gowerton School, then an all-boys grammar school. He later read law at the University of West London, graduating LLB.
From 1971 to 2003, he served as a career detective in the Metropolitan Police. Seconded to the National Crime Squad to specialise in combating organised crime, Davies was posted to Eastern Europe, on behalf of the European Union, where he was also tasked with helping to prepare EU candidate countries for accession. Promoted detective chief inspector, Davies retired from the police force to become a consultant advising foreign governments on organised crime.
Political career
Unsuccessfully contesting Gower as the Conservative candidate at both the Welsh Assembly Election 2007 and the 2010 general election, Davies was elected to the National Assembly for Wales representing South Wales West in 2011. Returned as Member of Parliament for Gower at the 2015 general election, having vanquished the 109-year Labour stronghold of Gower Constituency for the Conservatives, on 9 May 2015 (three days after the Westminster election), Davies decided to step down as an Assembly Member to focus on his parliamentary duties for Gower.
Davies opposed Brexit prior to the 2016 referendum and lost his seat at the 2017 general election.
Created a Life Peer in 2019, Lord Davies served under PM Rishi Sunak in the Wales Office, as a Government Whip and latterly as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Department for Transport.
Post-Commons career
From September 2017 to September 2020, Davies served as Chairman of the Welsh Conservatives succeeding the former MP and MEP Jonathan Evans.
House of Lords
Davies was nominated for a life peerage in Theresa May's resignation honours list on 10 September 2019. He was created Baron Davies of Gower, of Gower in the County of Swansea, on 10 October 2019. Lord Davies served as a Government Whip under both Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak from 2022 to 2023 before, in November 2023, being appointed as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport in which position he served until the end of Sunak's administration.
Shadow Secretary of State for Wales
Following the 2024 general election when no Conservative MPs were elected in Wales, Lord Davies was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Wales in the Shadow Cabinet of Rishi Sunak; this marks the first time that the position was held by a member of the House of Lords.
In an op-ed, Lord Davies said that his number one task in the role would be to ensure the Welsh Conservatives are “fully prepared for our much-anticipated comeback over the coming months and years.”
Following an exercise involving engaging public opinion as to whether the Welsh Conservatives should support the abolition of devolution, Lord Davies criticised the Senedd Conservative Group leader Andrew RT Davies, saying: “On the issue of abolishing the Senedd, the Conservative Party has no plans to support a move towards this and I see any action to test public opinion on this as completely futile.”
Personal life
One of the main reasons for his electoral defeat in 2017, Davies claimed, was a member of the public claiming in online platforms that he was “being investigated for electoral fraud”. The claim was false and Davies successfully sued.
In 1978, he married Gillian Adderley, having one son.
Lord and Lady Davies live in Ceredigion, Wales.
Honours
| Ribbon | Details | Year awarded |
|---|---|---|
|
Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal |
2002 |
|
|
Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal | 2001 |
References
- "Ministerial Appointments commencing: 25 October 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
- "Byron Davies AM". National Assembly for Wales. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
- www.parliament.uk
- ^ "Davies of Gower, Baron, (Henry Byron Davies) (born 4 Sept. 1952)". Who's Who 2023. Oxford University Press. 1 December 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
- Wales Online. "Who are the candidates standing in Gower in the General Election 2017?". Wales Online. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
- "Davies of Gower, Baron, (Henry Byron Davies) (born 4 Sept. 1952)." WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 1 Dec. 2011
- "Lord Davies of Gower". GOV.UK. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
- Blake, Aled (6 May 2011). "Assembly election: Meet the incoming AMs". WalesOnline website. Media Wales Ltd. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
- Youle, Richard (17 October 2019). "Gower's new peer is about to take his seat in the House of Lords". Wales Online. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
- ^ https://www.gov.uk/government/people/lord-davies-of-gower
- "Wales elections > South Wales West". BBC News. BBC. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
- ^ https://conservativehome.com/2018/04/27/byron-davies-how-i-won-an-apology-from-a-corbyn-supporter-for-falsehoods-that-helped-cost-me-my-seat/
- Goodenough, Tom (16 February 2016). "Which Tory MPs back Brexit, who doesn't and who is still on the fence?". The Spectator. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
- "Byron Davies elected Welsh Tory chair". 4 September 2017 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
- "Resignation Honours 2019". GOV.UK. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
- "No. 62798". The London Gazette. 16 October 2019. p. 18552.
- "UK politics live: Lord Cameron resigns as Rishi Sunak announces interim shadow cabinet". BBC News. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
- Mosalski, Ruth (9 July 2024). "The new shadow secretary for Wales has been announced". Wales Online. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
- https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/the-general-election-heartbreaking-conservative-29579566
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdjwd033n0ko
Offices held
| Senedd | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byDavid Lloyd | Member of the National Assembly for South Wales West 2011–2015 |
Succeeded byAltaf Hussain |
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded byMartin Caton | Member of Parliament for Gower 2015–2017 |
Succeeded byTonia Antoniazzi |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded byJo Stevens | Shadow Secretary of State for Wales 2024 |
Succeeded byMims Davies |
| Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded byThe Lord Brownlow of Shurlock Row | Gentlemen Baron Davies of Gower |
Followed byThe Lord Ranger |
| Members of the National Assembly for Wales 2011–2016 | |
|---|---|
| 4th Assembly | |
| Labour (30) |
|
| Conservatives (14) | |
| Plaid Cymru (11) |
|
| Liberal Democrats (5) | |
| |
- 1952 births
- Living people
- Alumni of the University of West London
- People from the Gower Peninsula
- Welsh police officers
- Metropolitan Police officers
- Politicians from Swansea
- Life peers created by Elizabeth II
- UK MPs 2015–2017
- Wales AMs 2011–2016
- Conservative Party (UK) life peers
- Conservative Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies
- Conservative Party members of the Senedd
- Conservative Party (UK) Baronesses- and Lords-in-Waiting