Stanley Clinton Clinton-Davis, Baron Clinton-Davis, (born Stanley Clinton Davis, 6 December 1928 – 11 June 2023) was a British politician and solicitor. A member of the Labour Party, he served as Member of Parliament (MP) for

Hackney Central Hackney Central is a sub-district of Hackney, London, Hackney in the London Borough of Hackney in London, England and is four miles (6.4 km) northeast of Charing Cross. The Hackney Central area is focused on Mare Street and the retail area ...

from 1970 to 1983, and was a minister in the Labour governments of

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 197 ...

James Callaghan Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the L ...

and

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

. He was European Commissioner in the

Delors Commission The Delors Commission was the administration of Jacques Delors, the eighth President of the European Commission. Delors presided over the European Commission for three terms (though the last one lasted for around a year). The first term lasted ...

(1985–1989). In 1990, he became a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

, sitting on the Labour benches in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

until his retirement in 2018.

Early life

Davis was born in Hackney on 6 December 1928, the only child of Jewish parents Sidney and Lilly Davis. He was educated at

Hackney Downs School Hackney Downs School was an 11–16 boys, community comprehensive secondary school in Lower Clapton, Greater London, England. It was established in 1876 and closed in 1995. It has been replaced by the Mossbourne Community Academy. History ...

Mercers' School The Mercers' School was an independent school in the City of London, England, with a history going back at least to 1542, and perhaps much further. It was operated by the Worshipful Company of Mercers and was closed in 1959. History After the ...

, and

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, where he graduated in Law in 1950. He was admitted as a solicitor in 1953.

Early career

Davis became interested in Labour politics from an early age. He joined the Labour Party at the age of 15, and formed the Labour Society at King's College London. He was a member of the executive council of the National Association of Labour Student Organisations (1948–50). In 1959, Davis was elected as a councillor for the

London Borough of Hackney The London Borough of Hackney ( ) is a London boroughs, London borough in Inner London, England. The historical and administrative heart of Hackney is Mare Street, which lies north-east of Charing Cross. The borough is named after Hackney, Lond ...

. He served as a councillor until 1971 and was Chairman of Social Services. He was Mayor of Hackney from 1968 to 1969.

House of Commons

Davis first stood as

Parliamentary candidate In British politics, a prospective parliamentary candidate (PPC) is a candidate selected by political parties to contest under individual Westminster constituencies in advance of a general election. The term originally came into use because of t ...

for the

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

-held constituency of Portsmouth Langstone at the 1955 general election. He then contested the marginal constituency of Yarmouth at the

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

and

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

general elections; on all three occasions, he was unsuccessful. Davis was elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

at the 1970 general election as MP for

. He served as MP for the constituency until 1983, when the constituency was abolished due to boundary changes. Davis' first ministerial post, which he held from 1974 until 1979, was as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Companies, Aviation and Shipping in the governments of Prime Ministers

and

. Following the Conservative Party's victory in the 1979 general election, Davis remained on the Labour front bench as the Opposition Spokesman on Trade, Prices and Consumer Protection (1979–81) and Foreign Affairs (1981–83). He was also the first MP ever to ask

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

a question at

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 (political custom), constitutional convention in the United Kingd ...

(on 22 May 1979).

European Commission

In 1985, Davis was appointed to serve as European Commissioner alongside

Lord Cockfield Francis Arthur Cockfield, Baron Cockfield PC ( ; 28 September 1916 – 8 January 2007), was by turns a civil servant, a company director, a Conservative Party politician, and a European Commissioner. He served as Minister of State at the Treas ...

in the

. He was the European Commissioner for Transport, the Environment and Nuclear Safety until 1989. In 1990, Clinton-Davis was awarded the Grand Cross Order of King Leopold II of Belgium for services to the

European Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation 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 Lisbo ...

. Clinton-Davis was a member of the United Kingdom Delegation to the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up of ...

and

Western European Union The Western European Union (WEU; , UEO; , WEU) was the international organisation and military alliance that succeeded the Western Union (alliance) , Western Union (WU) after the 1954 amendment of the 1948 Treaty of Brussels. The WEU implement ...

(1999–2001).

House of Lords

Davis was appointed to the

as a

, and on 8 May 1990 was created ''Baron Clinton-Davis, of Hackney in the London Borough of Hackney'', having changed his surname by

deed poll A deed poll (plural: deeds poll) is a legal document binding on a single person or several persons acting jointly to express an intention or create an obligation. It is a deed, and not a contract, because it binds only one party. Etymology Th ...

to ''Clinton-Davis'' on 20 April. In the Lords, Clinton-Davis served as Opposition Spokesman for Transport (1990–1997), and Supporting Spokesperson for Trade and Industry (1990–1996) and Foreign Affairs (1990–1997). Following the Labour victory at the 1997 general election, Prime Minister

decided to use the experience of a handful of former Labour ministers at the commencement of his

New Labour New Labour is the political philosophy that dominated the history of the British Labour Party from the mid-late 1990s to 2010 under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The term originated in a conference slogan first used by the ...

project. Clinton-Davis was appointed

Minister of State for Trade The Minister of State for Trade Policy and Economic Security, formerly Minister of State for Trade Policy and Minister of State for Trade, is a mid-level role at the Department for Business and Trade in the Government of the United Kingdom. I ...

, serving in the

Department of Trade and Industry Department of Trade and Industry may refer to: Current * Department of Trade and Industry (Isle of Man) * Department of Trade and Industry (Philippines) * Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (South Africa) Former * Department of Trade ...

until 1998. Clinton-Davis was appointed and sworn in as a member of the Privy Council in 1998. He retired from the House of Lords on 10 January 2018.

Other offices and honorary positions

Clinton-Davis has held a number of senior positions, including chairman (1989–96) and later president (1996–97) of the

British Refugee Council The Refugee Council is a UK-based organisation which works with refugees and asylum seekers. The organisation provides support and advice to refugees and asylum seekers, as well as support for other refugee and asylum seeker organisations. The ...

. Clinton-Davis was chairman (1980–84, 1989–2001) and later president (2001) of the Advisory Committee on Protection of the Sea (ACOPS). He was vice-president of the Society of Labour Lawyers (from 1991 onwards), vice-president of the

Chartered Institute of Environmental Health The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) is a professional membership body concerned with environmental health and promoting standards in the training and education of environmental health professionals. History The history of th ...

, Honorary Member of the Executive Council of Justice and president of the Association of Municipal Authorities. Clinton-Davis was also chairman of the Packaging Standards Council (1993–97). From 1980 to 2011, Clinton-Davis was president of the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) and was Honorary Life President. He was also president of the UK Pilots Association (Marine). Clinton-Davis was a member (1989–1998) and later chairman (1999–2004) of the Sasakawa Environment Prize Selection Committee. The award later came under the auspices of the

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the Declaration of the United Nati ...

. Clinton-Davis was an honorary fellow of the

Polytechnic University of Bucharest Politehnica University of Bucharest () is a technical university in Bucharest, Romania founded in 1818.fellow of King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

and an honorary fellow of

Queen Mary University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public university, public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University ...

Legal career

Clinton-Davis became a solicitor in November 1953 and was a founding partner of Clintons, becoming head of its Hackney branch, Clinton Davis & Co. He also worked as consultant on European Law and Affairs for S. J. Berwin & Co (1989–97, 1998–2003).

Jewish affairs

Clinton-Davis spoke in Parliament on numerous occasions on issues affecting the Jewish community and Israel. He was vice-president of the

All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Antisemitism The All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Antisemitism is a group in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The group exists to "To combat antisemitism and help develop and seek implementation of effective public policy to combat antisemitism". Aft ...

and was a supporter of

Labour Friends of Israel Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) is a group in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that advocates a strong bilateral relationship between the United Kingdom and Israel, and seeks to strengthen ties between the British Labour Party (UK), Labour ...

. He was an executive member of the

Institute of Jewish Affairs An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

(1993–97). He was a director of ''

The Jewish Chronicle ''The Jewish Chronicle'' (''The JC'') is a London-based Jewish weekly newspaper. Founded in 1841, it is the oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the world. Its editor () is Daniel Schwammenthal. The newspaper is published every Fri ...

'' and a member of the

Board of Deputies of British Jews The Board of Deputies of British Jews, commonly referred to as the Board of Deputies, is the largest and second oldest Jewish communal organisation in the United Kingdom, after the Initiation Society which was founded in 1745. Established in 17 ...

Personal life

In 1954, he married Frances Jane Lucas; they had a son and three daughters. Outside politics, his recreations were golf, football and reading biographical histories. Clinton-Davis died in

Barnet, London Chipping Barnet or High Barnet is a suburban market town in north London, forming part of the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is a suburban development built around a 12th-century settlement, and is located north-northwest of Charing C ...

, on 11 June 2023, at the age of 94.

Footnotes

References

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons, 1979'' * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clinton-Davis, Stanley 1928 births 2023 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Labour Friends of Israel UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 D Clinton-Davis British European commissioners Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at Hackney Downs School People educated at Mercers' School Alumni of King's College London Fellows of King's College London European commissioners (1985–1988) Life peers created by Elizabeth II Peers retired under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014 Jewish English politicians