Dehenna Davison

Dehenna Sheridan Davison was born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England where she grew up on a council estate.[4][5][6] Her father was a stonemason, and her mother was a nursery nurse.[3] Davison was educated at the independent Sheffield High School, on a full scholarship.[7] When she was 13 years old her father was attacked and killed;[3] his assailant being jailed for manslaughter.[8] Three years later she represented the family at a criminal injuries compensation tribunal. She has commented in interviews that the experience fostered her interest in politics.[9]

Davison studied British Politics and Legislative Studies at the University of Hull. During her time at the university, she spent a year working as a parliamentary aide for Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Somerset.[10][11] Davison was also a National Union of Students (NUS) delegate and played for the university's lacrosse team.[12][13] She led a successful campaign to disaffiliate the university's student union from the NUS in 2016.[14][15] In the same year, Davison was the Conservative candidate for the Kings Park ward in the Hull City Council election, where she finished last.[16] In 2018, she again contested for a Hull City Council seat, where she finished fifth in the Kingswood ward.[17] In her late teens and early twenties, she had a variety of jobs including in a video games retailer, a casino, a betting shop, and a branch of Pizza Hut.[9][18][19]

Davison was selected as the Conservative candidate for the Kingston upon Hull North constituency in the 2015 general election. She finished in third behind the Labour Party and UK Independence Party candidates.[20] Davison supported Brexit in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum.[4] She next contested the Sedgefield constituency in the 2017 general election where she finished second behind the Labour candidate.[18][21]

She was elected as MP for the Bishop Auckland constituency in the 2019 general election, with a majority of 7,962 (17.8%) on a swing of 9.5% from Labour to the Conservatives.[22] Davison was the first Conservative MP for the constituency since its creation in 1885.[23] The seat had been represented by a Labour MP since 1935.[24][25] Her campaign focused on promises on Brexit, and reopening Bishop Auckland Hospital's emergency department which had been closed in 2009.[23][26] Prior to becoming an MP, Davison was a research and development analyst for LUMO, a company which advises businesses on tax credits.[27]

She made her maiden speech on 16 January 2020.[28] Davison supports scrapping the planned high-speed railway project HS2, and re-investing the money into local transport schemes.[29] On 14 February, it was reported that she had been photographed with two far-right activists at a party to celebrate Brexit on 31 January in her constituency. Advocacy group Hope not Hate called for the Conservatives to undertake an investigation. In response, Davison distanced herself from the views of the two men, stating, "These photos were taken at an event open to the public and I in no way whatsoever condone the views highlighted of the individuals concerned."[30][31][32]

Davison has been a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee since March 2020.[33] She is also a member of the European Research Group,[34] on the steering committee of the China Research Group,[35] on the board of the Blue Collar Conservatives,[36] and a member of the parliamentary council of the centre-right think tank The Northern Policy Foundation.[37]

In September 2020, Davison was criticised by her own party after she mocked Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard for having an English accent and suggested that this was the reason for Labour's decline in support in Scotland. A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said that: "The reason Labour have no credibility or relevance in Scotland, as their own MP Ian Murray has said, has got nothing to do with Richard Leonard’s accent. This criticism is unacceptable. It plays into the kind of divisive politics that the SNP promote." Conservative MSP Dean Lockhart also distanced himself from Davison's comments and stated that Leonard's accent is "irrelevant".[38][39]

Davison married John Fareham, a Conservative councillor on Hull City Council in 2018.[6][9][40] He is 35 years older than her.[41] They appeared together on the Channel 4 documentary series Bride and Prejudice, which showed their wedding at the Guildhall, Kingston upon Hull.[42][43][44] They separated before the 2019 general election.[6] She lives in the village of High Etherley in her parliamentary constituency.[45]

As part of Mental Health Awareness Week 2019, Davison discussed her personal experience of depression and suicidal ideation while working in London as a parliamentary aide after her grandmother had been diagnosed with cancer.[46]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dehenna Davison.

• Official website
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou