James Davies (politician)

James Michael Davies (born 27 February 1980) is a British Conservative Party politician and Member of Parliament for the Vale of Clwyd. Davies has held the seat of Vale of Clwyd from 2015 to 2017, before regaining his seat again in 2019.

James Davies

MP
Davies in 2019
Member of Parliament
for Vale of Clwyd
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byChris Ruane
Majority1,827 (4.9%)
In office
7 May 2015 – 3 May 2017
Preceded byChris Ruane
Succeeded byChris Ruane
Personal details
Born (1980-02-27) 27 February 1980[1]
St Asaph, Wales, UK
Political partyConservative
Alma materChrist's College, Cambridge
Websitewww.jamesdavies.org.uk

Personal life

Davies was born in St Asaph in his constituency, tracing his lineage there back seven generations. He was educated at the private King's School, Chester and Christ's College, Cambridge. He is a General Practitioner specialising in dementia. Davies was elected to Prestatyn council in 2004. He is married to Nina and they have two young sons.[2][3]

Parliamentary career

In the 2015 general election, he was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Vale of Clwyd with 39% of the vote, ahead of incumbent Chris Ruane of Labour who gained 38.4%.[4] Ruane had held the seat for 18 years, but Davies earned 237 more votes.[5]

Davies lost his seat in the 2017 United Kingdom general election.[6] He returned to parliament in the 2019 election.[4]

In 2020, Davies received widespread criticism for asking Prime Minister Boris Johnson to comment on the news that the 2020 series of I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! would be filmed in Gwrych Castle in Abergele, North Wales instead of New South Wales Australia, during a Prime Minister's Questions session that was otherwise dominated by question's relating to the government's coronavirus response.[7][8]

Policies and views

Davies expressed concern over plans to scrap Doctor-led maternity care and services for miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, stating "“The 'temporary' arrangements would mean any elective surgery requiring an overnight stay being transferred to Wrexham or Bangor. The same would apply to early pregnancy unit assessments, meaning inconvenience to many women and their families."[9]

Climate change

Davies sits on the board of advisors for environmental group called Eco Central. In 2020 an investigation by DeSmog and The Independent revealed that, pro-Brexit Cardiff-based think tank Centre for Welsh Studies' Martin MacKinnon set up the group. The group ran Facebook campaigns, some of which featured doctored images of teenage activist Greta Thunberg and posted a Facebook banner calling film-maker Sir David Attenborough a "eco-hypocrite".[10]

Voting record

On the majority of issues Davies casts his votes in line with other Conservative MPs. However, he diverged from party lines on some issues.

Davies voted against investigations into the Iraq War, the majority of his party voted for. Davies voted for requiring pub companies to offer pub landlords rent-only leases, most of his party voted against.[11][12]

He voted to trigger Article 50 before April 2017.[13]

Davies voted with the majority of parliamentary MPs against debating sanctions in respect of individual cases arising from Parliament's system for dealing with bullying. Most Conservative MPs voted no.[14]

Davies voted against footballer Marcus Rashford's request to extend free school meals over the holidays.[15]

Davies, along with 328 loyalist conservative MPs voted down an amendement to ensure continued food safety rules post-Brexit.[16]

References
  1. "Members' Names Data Platform query". UK Parliament. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  2. Welton, Blake (9 April 2015). "James Davies, Conservative candidate for Vale of Clwyd". Daily Post. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  3. Williams, Kelly (29 October 2015). "Twitter row after Dr James Davies MP blocks constituents over 'tampon tax' tweets". northwales. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  4. "Vale of Clwyd". BBC News. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  5. "Election 2015: Tories snatch Vale of Clwyd seat". BBC News. 8 May 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  6. Brennan, Shane (9 June 2017). "Labour's Chris Ruane re-takes Vale of Clwyd in comeback despite 'bile and vitriol' of national campaign". northwales. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  7. Evans, Owen (2 September 2020). "Boris Johnson has his say on I'm a Celebrity 2020 coming to North Wales". Daily Post. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  8. Pearce, Tilly (2 September 2020). "Welsh MP corners Boris Johnson with question about I'm A Celebrity: 'Worst question ever'". Metro (British newspaper). Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  9. Yarwood, Sam (25 February 2015). "Life-threatening pregnancy cases won't be dealt with at maternity crisis Glan Clwyd hospital". North Wales Live. Archived from the original on 13 August 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  10. Dunne, Daisy (13 November 2020). "Revealed: The social media campaign spending thousands to promote climate denial online set up by chair of pro-Brexit think tank". The Independent. Archived from the original on 17 November 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  11. "James Davies's voting in Parliament". They work for you. 30 November 2020. Archived from the original on 3 November 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  12. "Dr James Davis Voting Record". Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  13. Bloom, Dan (8 December 2016). "Which MPs voted against triggering Article 50 before April 2017? See if yours voted for or against Brexit timetable". Daily Mirror. Archived from the original on 8 December 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  14. "Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme — House of Commons Debates on Sanctions in Individual Cases". Public Whip. 23 June 2020. Archived from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  15. Kendrick, Suzanne (22 October 2020). "Conwy, Denbighshire, Gwynedd and Anglesey MPs vote on Marcus Rashford's free school meals campaign". Rhyl, Prestatyn and Abergele Journal. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  16. "Full list of MPs who voted to lower our food standards during the COVID-19 pandemic". Whole Health Agriculture. Archived from the original on 30 November 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Chris Ruane		 Member of Parliament
for Vale of Clwyd
2015–2017		 Succeeded by
Chris Ruane
Preceded by
Chris Ruane		 Member of Parliament
for Vale of Clwyd
2019–present		 Incumbent
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