Phillip Leslie Davies (born 8 April 1959), is a British

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 ...

politician and former Leader of

Wirral Council Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council, or simply Wirral Council, is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of five in Merseyside and one of 36 in the metropolit ...

Education

BA (Hons) Politics, University of Warwick, 1978–81; PhD in Public Policy, University of Strathclyde, 1981-85. Davies studied at Wirral Met College between 1975 and 1978

Political career

Councillor

Davies was first elected to

in 1991 for the then

safe seat of

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

. In 2004, he was successfully re-elected to the Birkenhead and Tranmere ward after boundary changes.

Labour group leader

In March 2012, Davies was deputy leader of the

group when then leader Steve Foulkes, who lost a

vote of confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

as leader of the council in February, stood down citing the "constant stress" of the role. Davies was subsequently elected in his place and was leader of the opposition until

took control of the council that

May May is the fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the third of seven months to have a length of 31 days. May is a month of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Therefore, May ...

. On 16 October 2018 he said he was to stand down as both

Leader of the Council In England, local authorities are required to adopt one of three types of executive arrangements, having either an "elected mayor and cabinet", a "leader and cabinet", or a "committee system". The type of arrangement used determines how decisions ...

and councillor for Birkenhead and Tranmere at the next local elections in May 2019. His seat was gained by Steve Hayes of the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

on a majority of 1,140 over the

candidate. On 24 June he was made an

Honorary Alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members them ...

Wirral West parliamentary candidate

Davies was selected as the Labour candidate for the

Wirral West Wirral West is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Margaret Greenwood of the Labour Party since 2015. Constituency profile The constituency is one of four covering the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. It ...

Constituency at the 2010 General Election after the incumbent MP,

Stephen Hesford Stephen Hesford (born 27 May 1957) is a British Labour politician and barrister who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wirral West from 1997 to 2010. Early life Born in Lowton St Mary's, near Leigh, Lancashire, Hesford was educated at ...

, stood down for family reasons. Davies lost to future Secretary of State for Work and Pensions,

Esther McVey Esther Louise McVey (born 24 October 1967) is a British politician and television presenter serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tatton since 2017. A member of the Conservative Party, she served as Minister of State for Housing and Pl ...

, by a margin of 2,436.

Merseyside Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner nomination

Davies is currently the only candidate to be selected as deputy to

Jane Kennedy Jane Kennedy may refer to: * Jane Kennedy (courtier) (died 1589), Scottish courtier *Jane Kennedy (actress) (born 1964), Australian actress and comedian *Jane Kennedy (politician) (born 1958), British Labour Party Member of Parliament See also *Ja ...

, Police and Crime Commissioner for Merseyside. Kennedy, whose previous deputy Emily Spurrell stood down after Kennedy left the Labour Party, was due to stand down at the May 2020 election but had her term extended due to the delay of said election warranting a new deputy. However, after being offered the position, Phil Davies decided to decline the appointment on the grounds that it would require too high a level of commitment, and that he preferred to continue enjoying his retirement.

Electoral history

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Phil 1959 births Living people Labour Party (UK) councillors Members of Wirral Council Leaders of local authorities of England