The Lord Davies of Gower | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2025 | |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Wales | |
| In office 8 July 2024 – 5 November 2024 | |
| Leader | Rishi Sunak |
| Preceded by | Jo Stevens |
| Succeeded by | Mims Davies |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Maritime and Security | |
| In office 14 November 2023 – 5 July 2024 | |
| Prime Minister | Rishi Sunak |
| Preceded by | The Baroness Vere of Norbiton |
| Succeeded by | Mike Kane |
| Lord-in-Waiting Government Whip | |
| In office 22 September 2022 – 14 November 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Liz Truss Rishi Sunak[1] |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Gascoigne |
| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| Assumed office 10 October 2019 Life Peerage | |
| Member of Parliament forGower | |
| In office 7 May 2015 – 3 May 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Martin Caton |
| Succeeded by | Tonia Antoniazzi |
| Member of the Welsh Assembly forSouth Wales West | |
| In office 6 May 2011 – 15 May 2015[2] | |
| Preceded by | David Lloyd |
| Succeeded by | Altaf Hussain |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1952-09-04)4 September 1952 (age 73) |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Alma mater | University of West London |
Henry Byron Davies, Baron Davies of Gower (born 4 September 1952), is aWelshConservativepolitician,Life Peer and former Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Inspector.
President of the Welsh Conservative Party since 2020, Lord Davies served asShadow Secretary of State for Wales from July to November 2024. He was aMember of the Welsh Assembly for South Wales West from 2011 to 2015, andMember 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.[3]
Born in 1952[4] atPort Eynon on theGower Peninsula,[5] to the late William John Davies and Gladys Mary Davies. Byron Davies was educated at Knelston County Primary School andGowerton School, then an all-boysgrammar school.[4] He later read law at theUniversity of West London, graduating LLB.[6]
From 1971 to 2003, he served as a career detective in theMetropolitan Police.[4] Seconded to theNational Crime Squad to specialise in combating organised crime, Davies was posted to Eastern Europe, on behalf of theEuropean Union, where he was also tasked with helping to prepare EU candidate countries for accession.[7][8] Promoteddetective chief inspector, Davies retired from the police force to become a consultant advising foreign governments on organised crime.[9][10]
Unsuccessfully contesting Gower as the Conservative candidate at both theWelsh Assembly Election 2007 and the2010 general election, Davies was elected to theNational Assembly for Wales representingSouth Wales West in2011.[11] Returned as Member of Parliament forGower at the2015 general election, having vanquished the 109-year Labour stronghold of Gower Constituency for theConservatives,[12] 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 the2016 referendum[13] and lost his seat at the2017 general election.
Created a Life Peer in 2019, Lord Davies served under PMRishi Sunak in theWales Office, as a Government Whip and latterly as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for theDepartment for Transport.[10]
From September 2017 to September 2020, Davies served as Chairman of the Welsh Conservatives succeeding the former MP and MEPJonathan Evans.[14]
Davies was nominated for alife peerage inTheresa May'sresignation honours list on 10 September 2019.[15] He was createdBaron Davies of Gower,ofGower in the County ofSwansea, on 10 October 2019.[16] Lord Davies served as a Government Whip under both Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak from 2022 to 2023 before, in November 2023, being appointed asParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport in which position he served until the end of Sunak's administration.
In January 2025, Davies was elected as a Co-Chair for theAll-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Western Gateway.[17]
Following the2024 general election when no Conservative MPs were elected in Wales, Lord Davies was appointedShadow Secretary of State for Wales in theShadow Cabinet of Rishi Sunak; this marks the first time that the position was held by a member of theHouse of Lords.[18][19]
In an op-ed, Lord Davies said that his number one task in the role would be to ensure theWelsh Conservatives are “fully prepared for our much-anticipated comeback over the coming months and years.”[20]
Following an exercise involving engaging public opinion as to whether theWelsh Conservatives should support the abolition ofdevolution, Lord Davies criticised theSenedd Conservative Group leaderAndrew 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.”[21]
Lord Davies was replaced asShadow Secretary of State for Wales in November 2024 withMims Davies.
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.[12]
In 1978, he married Gillian Adderley, having one son; the pair live inCeredigion, Wales.
He is also a member of theCarlton Club andRoyal Air Force Club.
| Ribbon | Details | Year awarded |
|---|---|---|
| Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal | 2002 |
| Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal | 2001 |
| Senedd | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of the National Assembly forSouth Wales West 2011–2015 | Succeeded by |
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forGower 2015–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Shadow Secretary of State for Wales 2024 | Succeeded by |
| Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by | Gentlemen Baron Davies of Gower | Followed by |
