Glyn Davies (politician)

Edward Glyn Davies[1] (born 16 February 1944) is a former Welsh Conservative politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Montgomeryshire from 2010 to 2019. Davies previously served as a Member of the Welsh Assembly (AM) for the Mid and West Wales region from 1999 to 2007.

For other people named Glyn Davies, see Glyn Davies (disambiguation).

Glyn Davies
Member of Parliament
for Montgomeryshire
In office
6 May 2010 – 6 November 2019
Preceded byLembit Öpik
Succeeded byCraig Williams
Member of the Welsh Assembly
for Mid and West Wales
In office
6 May 1999 – 3 May 2007
Preceded byConstituency created
Succeeded byAlun Davies
Personal details
Born (1944-02-16) 16 February 1944
Welshpool, Montgomeryshire, Wales
Political partyConservative
Alma materAberystwyth University
WebsiteOfficial website

He is a former Chairman of the Development Board for Rural Wales and also served as a Member of the Welsh Development Agency and the Welsh Tourist Board.

He was Chairman of Montgomeryshire District Council and twice served as the Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Secretary of State for Wales.

Background

Educated at Castle Caereinion Primary School and Llanfair Caereinion High School. At the age of 50, he attended Aberystwyth University, where he gained a diploma in international law and politics.[2]

He spent his early working life running the family farm near Castle Caereinion, Welshpool on which he was born and in which still has a business interest. He now lives at Cil Farm, Berriew in a house once owned by Arthur Humphreys-Owen who served as an MP for Davies' seat from 1894–1906.[3]

In 2002, Davies underwent major surgery for rectal cancer. He went on to make a full recovery and in 2006 competed in a rugby game alongside Jonah Lomu to promote the message that is possible to make a full recovery following a serious illness and to raise money for charity.[4]

Professional career

Davies was a farmer. He is a former Chairman of the Development Board for Rural Wales and also served as a Member of the Welsh Development Agency and the Welsh Tourist Board.[2]

Political career

Davies' career in politics began in 1980 when he found his local District Council. He was Chairman of Montgomeryshire District Council from 1985–89, having previously served as Chair of the Planning Committee and Chair of the Finance Committee.[2]

Member of the National Assembly for Wales for the Welsh Conservative Party in the Mid and West Wales region from 1999 to 2007. Chair of the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee in the First Assembly; and the Environment, Planning and Countryside Committee in the Second Assembly.

Following the loss of his place in the National Assembly for Wales due to Conservative success elsewhere in the region, Davies challenged Lembit Öpik, the Liberal Democrat MP for Montgomeryshire, at the 2010 UK General Election, having unsuccessfully challenged Öpik at the 1997 General Election in the same seat. He beat Öpik to become the Member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire.[5] In September 2010 it was announced that Glyn was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Cheryl Gillan as Secretary of State for Wales,[6] a role he lost in the 2012 Cabinet reshuffle.[7]

In 2015, he was re-elected in that year's general election with 45% of the vote. One of the votes for him was a drawing of a penis in the box next to his name, which was ruled valid.[8]

Davies was again re-elected in the 2017 general election, with a majority of 9,285.[9]

In July 2017, it was confirmed that Davies would resume his previous role (2010–2012) as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns.[10]

On 13 May 2019, Davies announced he would not be standing for re-election at the next general election.[11]

Comments about academics

In October 2016, Davies tweeted a series of remarks about 'academics', suggesting that they lacked the status of experts and were universally out of touch with the real world.[12] The remarks caused a significant backlash from the public, the press, and peers from within the Conservative Party.[13] Since the incident, Davies has ceased using Twitter as a form of communication, and has refused to offer a public apology for his remarks.

Blogging

Davies blogs semi-regularly, on his web page 'A View from Rural Wales'. The British blogger Iain Dale is quoted as describing Davies as "By common consensus the best politician blogger in Wales and he's a real character".[14] Davies kept up blogging after losing his seat in the National Assembly.

In 2008, Davies defended the sacked former blogger Christopher Glamorganshire, and is quoted as saying "The Christopher Glamorganshire blog was on my list of 'my favourites'. It seemed to me to be written in a sensible and rational manner. Clearly, if his contract of employment said he was not allowed to blog, he doesn't have much of a case. But if it is simply a question of supposedly contravening the code, I think sacking him is very harsh and heavy-handed. This all smacks of the heavy hand of the state."[15]

His blog was voted the second most popular Welsh political blog in Iain Dale's Total Politics Guide to Blogging 2008–09,[16] a position he has maintained from the previous year.[17]

Offices held

References
  1. "BBC General Election 2010". BBC News.
  2. "UK: Wales: AMs". BBC News. 1 September 1999. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  3. "Thank you, Mr Speaker, for calling...: 20 Jul 2010: House of Commons debates - TheyWorkForYou". TheyWorkForYou.
  4. "AM's message of life after cancer". 1 February 2006 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
  5. "Lembit Opik loses Montgomeryshire". BBC News. 7 May 2010.
  6. "Cameron approves pps appointments". Politicshome. 10 September 2010. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011.
  7. "Cabinet reshuffle: Cheryl Gillan loses Wales Office". BBC News. 4 September 2012.
  8. "'Penis' drawn on ballot paper 'deemed valid vote'". The Scotsman. 8 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  9. "Montgomeryshire parliamentary constituency - Election 2017". BBC News. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  10. "List of Parliamentary Private Secretaries (PPS): July 2017" (PDF). GOV.UK. Prime Minister's Office. 1 August 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  11. "Welsh Tory MP Glyn Davies stepping down". BBC News. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  12. Glyn Davies [@glyndaviesmp] (29 October 2016). "Personally, never thought of academics as 'experts'. No experience of the real world" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  13. "Welsh Tory MP's attack: the experts strike back". BBC News. 2 November 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  14. "The blogger's world is huge". Wales on Sunday. 20 May 2007. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
  15. "Sacked blogger's taking case to tribunal". Western Mail. 9 July 2008. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
  16. "Top 40 Welsh blogs". Iain Dale's Diary. 26 August 2008. Retrieved 6 October 2008.
  17. "Top 20 Welsh blogs". Iain Dale's Diary. 18 September 2008. Retrieved 6 October 2008.
  18. "PARLIAMENTARY PRIVATE SECRETARIES – JUNE 2019" (PDF). GOV.UK. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
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