Miriam Jane Alice Davies (born 2 June 1975), known as Mims Davies, is a British Conservative Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for East Grinstead and Uckfield since 2024. She previously served as MP for Eastleigh from

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

and MP for Mid Sussex from

to 2024. Davies has served as Shadow Secretary of State for Wales since November 2024, and Shadow Minister for Women since July 2024. She previously served in various ministerial positions between 2018 and 2024. Davies was first elected to Parliament as MP for Eastleigh in May 2015. She was the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Sport, Civil Society and Loneliness in

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Baroness May of Maidenhead (; ; born 1 October 1956), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as Home Secretar ...

's government from 2018 to 2019. After

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

became Prime Minister in July 2019, Davies was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment at the

Department for Work and Pensions The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for welfare spending, welfare, pensions and child maintenance ...

. She was elected in the 2019 general election as the MP for Mid Sussex. She resigned as Employment Minister in July 2022, after losing confidence in Johnson's leadership. Davies was re-elected to Parliament in 2024 after standing in the newly established East Grinstead and Uckfield constituency.

Early life and career

Miriam Davies was born on 2 June 1975. She was educated at the fee-paying Royal Russell School in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

, and the state-sector Collyers Sixth Form College in

Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

. She then studied Politics and International Relations at Swansea University, being the first in her family to enter higher education. After graduation, she worked primarily as a local radio presenter, reporter and producer at Morriston Hospital Radio in

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

, South Wales from 1993 to 2003. She later worked as a road safety communications officer with the Automobile Association, the

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

force, and Sussex Safer Roads Partnership. Davies served as a Conservative Party town councillor for Haywards Heath Town Council and as a District councillor on Mid Sussex District Council for the Haywards Heath Lucastes ward from 2011 to 2015. Her political involvement began when she was co-opted onto Hurstpierpoint and Sayers Common Parish Council.

Parliamentary career

At the 2015 general election, Davies was elected to Parliament as MP for Eastleigh with 42.3% of the vote and a majority of 9,147. She campaigned for the UK to leave the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

during the 2016 referendum. Davies was re-elected as MP for Eastleigh at the snap 2017 general election with an increased vote share of 50.4% and an increased majority of 14,179. Davies was appointed an Assistant Government Whip on 9 January 2018. In 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 ...

she sat on the Commons Reference Group on Representation and Inclusion and previously sat on the Consolidation Bills (Joint Committee) and

Women and Equalities Committee The Women and Equalities Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was established following the 2015 general election to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Govern ...

. On 23 October 2018, Davies resigned from a committee chaired by Commons Speaker John Bercow, citing lack of confidence in Bercow's ability to tackle bullying and sexual harassment problems in Parliament. On 5 November 2018, Davies was appointed Minister for Sport and Civil Society at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, after the resignation of Tracey Crouch over a delay to the introduction of reduced limits on the stakes of fixed-odds betting terminals. In February 2019, in her role as Sports Minister, she called for an urgent summit with English football leaders (the FA, Premier League, and EFL) in order to address issues relating to abuse in the sport. She suggested there should be a zero tolerance approach to problems concerning racist, homophobic and antisemitic chanting. In May 2019, she attended the "End the cage age" event campaigning against caged birds. This event was organised by Compassion in World Farming. Davies stated that she was against caged laying hens. In July 2019, new

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

appointed Davies to the position of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment at the

. Davies announced on 30 October 2019 that she would be standing down as MP for Eastleigh in order to spend more time with her children; she later announced she was to be on the shortlist for Mid Sussex. On 9 November, she was selected to stand for the seat. At the 2019 general election, she was elected as MP for Mid Sussex with 53.3% of the vote and a majority of 18,197. On 6 July 2022 she resigned from her position as Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department for Work and Pensions, having lost confidence in Boris Johnson as a result of the Chris Pincher scandal. Due to the

2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies The 2023 review of Westminster constituencies was the most recent cycle of the process to redraw the Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, constituency map for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The new constituency b ...

, Davies' constituency of Mid Sussex was essentially abolished, though a new constituency with substantially different boundaries was created, and replaced with East Grinstead and Uckfield. At the 2024 general election, Davies was elected to Parliament as MP for East Grinstead and Uckfield with 38.3% of the vote and a majority of 8,480. On 8 July 2024, Davies was appointed as Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities for Rishi Sunak's shadow cabinet. In October 2024, she was elected as a member of the

Culture, Media and Sport Committee The Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, formerly the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, is one of the Select committee (United Kingdom), select committees of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, es ...

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales and Shadow Secretary of State for Wales

Davies was appointed to the role of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales on 26 July 2018. Whilst at the Wales Office, Davies helped deliver the North Wales Growth Deal and the abolition of the Severn Bridge tolls. On 5 November 2024, after the

Welsh Conservatives The Welsh Conservatives (), also known as the Welsh Conservative Party (), is the branch of the United Kingdom Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party that operates in Wales. At United Kingdom general elections, Westminster elections, it is ...

lost all of its MPs in the 2024 General Election Davies was appointed as Shadow Secretary of State for Wales in Kemi Badenoch's shadow cabinet, replacing Byron Davies, Baron Davies of Gower. In February 2025, Davies criticised Jo Stevens, claiming the Secretary of State for Wales was “politicising” impartial civil servants.

Personal life

She was a carer to her two elderly parents before becoming an MP, which she has said "informed a significant portion of her parliamentary work". She is a keen runner and has completed several long-distance races, including the 2017 London Marathon. She married her husband, who is Welsh, in 2000. https://nation.cymru/news/new-shadow-welsh-secretary-defends-connections-to-wales-following-criticism/

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Mims 1975 births Conservative Party (UK) councillors Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Councillors in West Sussex People from Mid Sussex District Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Living people People educated at Royal Russell School Place of birth missing (living people) UK councillors 2011–2015 UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–2024 UK MPs 2024–present 21st-century British women politicians 21st-century English women politicians 21st-century English politicians Women councillors in England British Eurosceptics Shadow cabinet of Kemi Badenoch