Ifor Davies (9 June 1910 – 6 June 1982), born Ivor Davies, was a

Welsh Labour Welsh Labour ( cy, Llafur Cymru) is the branch of the United Kingdom Labour Party in Wales and the largest party in modern Welsh politics. Welsh Labour and its forebears won a plurality of the Welsh vote at every UK general election since 1922 ...

politician. Davies was born in

Gowerton Gowerton ( cy, Tregŵyr) is a large village and community, about 4 miles north west of Swansea city centre, Wales. Gowerton is often known as the gateway to the Gower Peninsula. Gowerton's original name was Ffosfelin. The village falls within the ...

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

, the youngest of the six children of Jeffrey Davies and Elizabeth Jane Thomas. His father was employed in the local

tinplate Tinplate consists of sheets of steel coated with a thin layer of tin to impede rusting. Before the advent of cheap milled steel, the backing metal was wrought iron. While once more widely used, the primary use of tinplate now is the manufacture of ...

mill. He was educated at

School,

Swansea Technical College , students = 5,765 , undergrad = 4,520 , postgrad = 1,075 , other = 175 further education, FE , city = Swansea , country = Wales, UK , campus = Urban , address = Mount PleasantSw ...

and

Ruskin College, Oxford Ruskin College, originally known as Ruskin Hall, Oxford, is an independent educational institution in Oxford, England. It is not a college of Oxford University. It is named after the essayist, art and social critic John Ruskin (1819–1900) an ...

, and then worked as an industrial personnel officer.

Political career

From 1958 to 1961, Davies served as a councillor on

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

County Council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

. Prior to election to Parliament, he was

election agent An election agent in elections in the United Kingdom, as well as some other similar political systems such as elections in India, is the person legally responsible for the conduct of a candidate's political campaign and to whom election material is ...

to his predecessor

David Grenfell David Rhys Grenfell, (16 June 1881 – 21 November 1968), sometimes known as Dai Grenfell, was a Welsh Member of Parliament. He represented the Gower constituency for the Labour Party from 1922 to 1959. Early life Grenfell was born on 16 Jun ...

. Davies was

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 of ...

(MP) for

Gower Gower ( cy, Gŵyr) or the Gower Peninsula () in southwest Wales, projects towards the Bristol Channel. It is the most westerly part of the historic county of Glamorgan. In 1956, the majority of Gower became the first area in the United Kingdom ...

from 1959 until he died in office in 1982. He was succeeded by Gareth Wardell. Under

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

, Davies was a

Lord Commissioner of the Treasury In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, serving as a commission for the ancient office of Treasurer of the Exchequer. The board consists of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Second Lord of the ...

and Welsh

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

from 1964 to 1966 and a junior minister at the

Welsh Office The Welsh Office ( cy, Swyddfa Gymreig) was a department in the Government of the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Wales. It was established in April 1965 to execute government policy in Wales, and was headed by the Secretary of State f ...

from 1966 to 1969. He was a former Chairman of the

Welsh Grand Committee The Welsh Grand Committee ( cy, Uwch Bwyllgor Cymreig), is a committee of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. It is one of three such grand committees in the United Kingdom Parliament; the other two are for Scotland and Northern Ireland ...

and Member of the

Speaker's Panel of Chairmen The Panel of Chairs (formerly the Chairman's Panel) are members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom responsible for chairing public bill committees and other General Committees, as well as debates in Westminster Hall, the parallel deba ...

. In 1971, firmly on the Right of the Labour Party, Davies was one of the 69 Labour MPs who defied the

Labour Whip The Chief Whip of the Labour Party oversees the whipping system in the party, which is responsible for ensuring that Labour MPs or members of the House of Lords attend and vote in parliament in the desired way of the party leadership. Chief W ...

to vote in favour of entry to the

EEC The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

. He campaigned for a 'No' vote in the 1979 referendum in Wales on the establishment of a Welsh Assembly, along with other members of the 'Gang of Six',

Neil Kinnock Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock (born 28 March 1942) is a British former politician. As a member of the Labour Party, he served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995, first for Bedwellty and then for Islwyn. He was the Leader of ...

Leo Abse Leopold Abse (22 April 1917 – 19 August 2008) was a Welsh lawyer and politician. He was a Welsh Labour MP for nearly 30 years, noted for promoting private member's bills to decriminalise male homosexual relations and liberalise the divorce la ...

, Donald Anderson, Alfred Evans and

Ioan Evans Ioan Evans may refer to: * Ioan Evans (politician) Ioan Lyonel Evans (10 July 1927 – 10 February 1984) was a British politician. He served as a Labour and Co-operative Member of Parliament (MP) from 1964 to 1970 and from 1974 until his death. ...

. Throughout his tenure as MP, he was sponsored by the white-collar trade union

APEX The apex is the highest point of something. The word may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional entities * Apex (comics), a teenaged super villainess in the Marvel Universe * Ape-X, a super-intelligent ape in the Squadron Supreme universe *Apex ...

. Davies was Secretary of the now-defunct Tabernacle Chapel, Gowerton, continuing in that role while a Member of Parliament. He was a former Chairman of the Council of

Swansea University , former_names=University College of Swansea, University of Wales Swansea , motto= cy, Gweddw crefft heb ei dawn , mottoeng="Technical skill is bereft without culture" , established=1920 – University College of Swansea 1996 – University of Wa ...

Personal life

He married Doreen Griffiths (1925-2018); the couple had two children, Janet and Wyn, Director of Music with

New Zealand Opera New Zealand Opera is New Zealand's only full-time professional opera company, formed in 2000 from the merger of companies in Auckland and Wellington (and later Christchurch). New Zealand Opera is headquartered in Parnell, Auckland, stages severa ...

. His step-great nephew Huw Irranca-Davies was the MP for Ogmore 2002 to 2016 and has been the Assembly Member for the coterminous seat since 2016. His brother Benjamin was a grammar school teacher of Gravesend, Kent.

References

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons'', 1966 & 1979 {{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Ifor Welsh Labour Party MPs Association of Professional, Executive, Clerical and Computer Staff-sponsored MPs Councillors in Wales UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 1910 births 1982 deaths People from the Gower Peninsula People educated at Gowerton Grammar School Politicians from Swansea Place of death missing Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970