James Michael Davies (born 27 February 1980) is a British

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician serving as the

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) for the

Vale of Clwyd The Vale of Clwyd ( cy, Dyffryn Clwyd) is a tract of low-lying ground in the county of Denbighshire in north-east Wales. The Vale extends south-southwestwards from the coast of the Irish Sea for some 20 miles (about 30 km) forming a triangl ...

since 2019, having previously held the seat from 2015 to 2017. He has been serving as

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales ( cy, Is-ysgrifennydd Gwladol Seneddol Cymru), often referred to simply as the Welsh Office Minister, is a junior ministerial post (of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State rank) in the Gove ...

since October 2022.

Early life and career

Davies was born in

St Asaph St Asaph (; cy, Llanelwy "church on the Elwy") is a city and community on the River Elwy in Denbighshire, Wales. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 3,355, making it the second-smallest city in Britain in terms of population and urban ...

in his constituency, tracing his lineage there back seven generations. He was educated at the private King's School, Chester before going on to study at Christ's College, Cambridge, gaining three degrees: a BA, a MB BChir in 2004, and an MA in 2005. He is a Member of the

Royal College of General Practitioners The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) is the professional body for general (medical) practitioners (GPs/ Family Physicians/ Primary Care Physicians) in the United Kingdom. The RCGP represents and supports GPs on key issues including ...

, specialising in

dementia Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...

. Davies was elected to

Denbighshire County Council Denbighshire County Council is the unitary local authority for the county of Denbighshire, one of the principal areas of Wales. The council is based at County Hall in Ruthin. Elections take place every five years. The last election was on 5 M ...

in 2004, remaining a member until 2015. He represented the Prestatyn East ward. He was on the party list in

North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia N ...

at the 2007 National Assembly for Wales election.

Parliamentary career

At the 2015 general election, he was elected as the

(MP) for Vale of Clwyd with 39% of the vote, ahead of incumbent

Chris Ruane Christopher Shaun Ruane (born 18 July 1958) is a Welsh Labour politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Vale of Clwyd from 1997 to 2015 and 2017 to 2019. Early life Ruane attended Ysgol Mair Roman Catholic primary school i ...

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

on 38.4%. Ruane had held the seat for 18 years, and Davies received 237 more votes than his opponent. He lost his seat at the 2017 United Kingdom general election, but returned to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

at the 2019 election. In September 2020, Davies received criticism on social media for asking

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

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 Gwrych Castle ( cy, Castell Gwrych meaning "hedged castle") (Originally spelt as 'Gwrŷch') is a Grade I listed 19th-century country house near Abergele in Conwy County Borough, Wales. The castle and 236 acre estate are owned by a charity, ...

Abergele Abergele (; ; ) is a market town and community, situated on the north coast of Wales between the holiday resorts of Colwyn Bay and Rhyl, in Conwy County Borough and in the historic county of Denbighshire. Its northern suburb of Pensarn lies ...

instead of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia, during a

Prime Minister's Questions Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs, officially known as Questions to the Prime Minister, while colloquially known as Prime Minister's Question Time) is a constitutional convention in the United Kingdom, currently held as a single session every W ...

session that was otherwise dominated by question's relating to the government's coronavirus response. Davies was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the

Department of Health and Social Care The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for government policy on health and adult social care matters in England, along with a few elements of the same matters which are not otherw ...

in September 2021. He resigned this position on 6 July 2022 alongside many other appointments.

Policies and views

In February 2015, Davies expressed concern over plans to scrap Doctor-led

maternity care Midwifery is the health science and health profession that deals with pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period (including care of the newborn), in addition to the sexual and reproductive health of women throughout their lives. In many co ...

and services for

miscarriages Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion and pregnancy loss, is the death of an embryo or fetus before it is able to survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks of gestation is defined by ESHRE as biochemical ...

and

ectopic pregnancies Ectopic pregnancy is a complication of pregnancy in which the embryo attaches outside the uterus. Signs and symptoms classically include abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding, but fewer than 50 percent of affected women have both of these symptoms ...

at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, stating "The 'temporary' arrangements would mean any elective surgery requiring an overnight stay being transferred to

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

or Bangor. The same would apply to early pregnancy unit assessments, meaning inconvenience to many women and their families."

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 {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror , image ...

, 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. He voted to trigger Article 50 before April 2017.

Personal life

Davies married Nina Jones in 2012; they have two young sons. Outside of politics, he lists his recreations as "travelling, walking, languages, local community regeneration, cinema,

real ale Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for beer that is "brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous car ...

and dining out,

DIY "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...

". He is a member of the

Carlton Club The Carlton Club is a private members' club in St James's, London. It was the original home of the Conservative Party before the creation of Conservative Central Office. Membership of the club is by nomination and election only. History The ...

References

External links

Official website
*
Profile
at the Conservative Party website {{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, James 1980 births Living people 21st-century Welsh medical doctors Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Conservative Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies People educated at The King's School, Chester People from St Asaph UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2019–present Welsh Conservative councillors