Rhys John Davies (16 April 1877 – 31 October 1954) was a British trade unionist and Labour Party politician. Davies was born in Llangennech, Carmarthenshire, Wales, the son of Rhys and Ann Davies. After an elementary education he initially worked as a farm labourer. He subsequently moved to the Rhondda Valley, where he worked as a coalminer for ten years. From an early age he was involved in the local co-operative society and became a union official organising shop-assistants throughout

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

. This led to his moving to Manchester, to take up a post with the

Amalgamated Union of Co-operative Employees The Amalgamated Union of Co-operative Employees (AUCE) was a trade union representing retail and related staff of co-operative businesses in the United Kingdom. The union was founded in 1891 at a meeting in Romiley and was originally named the Ma ...

and later the

National Union of Distributive and Allied Workers The National Union of Distributive and Allied Workers (NUDAW) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. History The union was founded in 1921, when the Amalgamated Union of Co-operative Employees merged with the National Union of Warehouse and ...

.'Obituary: Mr R J Davies', ''The Times'', 2 November 1954. He was a member of

Manchester City Council Manchester City Council is the local authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester is the sixth largest city in England by population. Its city council is composed of 96 councillors, three ...

for thirty years, and also president of the Manchester and Salford Trades Council and of the Withington Divisional Parliamentary Labour Party. In 1921, William Wilson, Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for Westhoughton, died, and Davies was elected at a by-election to succeed him. He served in the

first Labour Government The first MacDonald ministry of the United Kingdom lasted from January to November 1924. The Labour Party, under Ramsay MacDonald, had failed to win the general election of December 1923, with 191 seats, although the combined Opposition tall ...

in 1924 as Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department. This was the only government office he held. He retained the Westhoughton seat through successive elections until he retired from the House of Commons early in 1951 due to ill health.'MP not to seek re-election', ''The Times'', 10 April 1951, p. 7. At the time he was the longest-serving Labour MP. Davies was a strong supporter of the temperance and

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

movements, whose causes he advocated in Parliament and in the country. He was also a committed parliamentarian, and served as joint secretary of the British group of the

Inter-Parliamentary Union The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU; french: Union Interparlementaire, UIP) is an inter-parliamentary institution, international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and coop ...

. He married Margaret Griffiths in 1902, and they had three sons. Davies died at his home in Porthcawl,

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

, in 1954, aged 77.

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* 1877 births 1954 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies National Union of Distributive and Allied Workers-sponsored MPs UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1931–1935 UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 People from Llanelli Welsh pacifists {{England-Labour-UK-MP-stub