Gwilym Ednyfed Hudson-Davies (4 December 1929 – 11 January 2018), known as Ednyfed Hudson Davies, was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

politician and

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP). He was born in

Llanelli Llanelli ("St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carma ...

, the son of Ebenezer Curig Davies and his wife Enid (née Hughes). They moved to Bangor when Ednyfed was a child. Although both sets of grandparents were Welsh speaking, differences in dialect sometimes made communication difficult. Hudson Davies was educated at Dynevor

Grammar School A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the C ...

, the University College, Wales in Swansea, and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...

. He became a lecturer in government and a broadcaster. Davies was elected Labour Party MP for Conway in 1966, serving there until 1970. He was later elected for

Caerphilly Caerphilly (, ; cy, Caerffili, ) is a town and community in Wales. It is situated at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley. It is north of Cardiff and northwest of Newport. It is the largest town in Caerphilly County Borough, and lies wi ...

, in 1979. In 1981, he was among the Labour MPs who defected to the new

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

. In 1983, in Caerphilly, it was the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

side of the SDP-Liberal Alliance which put up a candidate. Davies therefore did not stand in Caerphilly, but was adopted in

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...

, having moved to the

New Forest The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, fea ...

after marrying Amanda Barker-Mill in 1972. He lost comprehensively as it was a strongly

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

seat. The Liberals also did not win in Caerphilly. Hudson-Davies remained active in public life as chairman of a museum trust in the

in the south of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. His first marriage ended in divorce in 1994 and in 2016 he married Sue Owen. He had twin daughters from his first marriage and a stepdaughter from his second. He died on 11 January 2018, aged 88.

References

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons 1983'' * https://web.archive.org/web/20110713201725/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Ccommons1.htm

External links

* 1929 births 2018 deaths Welsh Labour Party MPs Social Democratic Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1979–1983 Alumni of Swansea University Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Welsh-speaking politicians People from Llanelli {{Wales-Labour-UK-MP-stub