Henry Byron Davies, Baron Davies of Gower (born 4 September 1952), is a Welsh

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 ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

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 ...

and former Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Inspector. President of the Welsh Conservative Party since 2020, Lord Davies served as

Shadow Secretary of State for Wales The shadow secretary of state for Wales (or shadow Welsh secretary) is a member of the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom), UK Shadow Cabinet responsible for the scrutiny of the secretary of state for Wales and their department, t ...

from July to November 2024. He was a

Member of the Welsh Assembly A member of the Senedd (MS; plural: ''MSs''; ; , plural: ) is a representative elected to the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ). There are sixty members, with forty members chosen to represent individual Senedd constituencies, and twenty to represe ...

for South Wales West from 2011 to 2015, and Member of Parliament for Gower from 2015 to 2017, before being elevated to the peerage in 2019. Lord Davies currently serves as an Opposition spokesman for Home affairs in the House of Lords, since 11 November 2024.

Early life and career

Born in 1952 at Port Eynon on the

Gower Peninsula The Gower Peninsula (), or simply Gower (), is a peninsula in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is the most westerly part of the historic county of Glamorgan, and is now within the City and County of Swansea. It projects towards th ...

, Byron Davies was educated at Knelston County Primary School and Gowerton School, then an all-boys

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

. He later read law at the University of West London, graduating LLB. From 1971 to 2003, he served as a career detective in the Metropolitan Police. Seconded to the

National Crime Squad The National Crime Squad (NCS) was a British police organisation which dealt with national and transnational Organised crime, organised and major crimes. Formed in April 1998 after the amalgamation of six former Regional Crime Squads, it merge ...

to specialise in combating organised crime, Davies was posted to Eastern Europe, on behalf of 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 ...

, where he was also tasked with helping to prepare EU candidate countries for accession. Promoted detective chief inspector, Davies retired from the police force to become a consultant advising foreign governments on organised crime.https://www.gov.uk/government/people/lord-davies-of-gower

Political career

Unsuccessfully contesting Gower as the Conservative candidate at both the Welsh Assembly Election 2007 and the 2010 general election, Davies was elected to the

National Assembly for Wales The Senedd ( ; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, Its role is to scrutinise the Welsh Government and legislate on devolve ...

representing South Wales West in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

. Returned as Member of Parliament for Gower at the 2015 general election, having vanquished the 109-year Labour stronghold of Gower Constituency for the

Conservatives 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 civilizati ...

,https://conservativehome.com/2018/04/27/byron-davies-how-i-won-an-apology-from-a-corbyn-supporter-for-falsehoods-that-helped-cost-me-my-seat/ on 9 May 2015 (three days after the Westminster election), Davies decided to step down as an Assembly Member to focus on his parliamentary duties for Gower. Davies opposed Brexit prior to the 2016 referendum and lost his seat at the 2017 general election. Created a Life Peer in 2019, Lord Davies served under PM

Rishi Sunak Rishi Sunak (born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2022 to 2024. Following his defeat to Keir Starmer's La ...

in the

Wales Office The Wales Office (), known as the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales () between 2017 and 2024, is a department of His Majesty's Government. It replaced the former Welsh Office, which had extensive responsibility for governing Wales p ...

, as a Government Whip and latterly as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport ...

Post-Commons career

From September 2017 to September 2020, Davies served as Chairman of the Welsh Conservatives succeeding the former MP and MEP Jonathan Evans.

House of Lords

Davies was nominated for 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 ...

age 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 resignation honours list on 10 September 2019. He was created Baron Davies of Gower, ''of

Gower The Gower Peninsula (), or simply Gower (), is a peninsula in the south-west of Wales. It is the most westerly part of the historic county of Glamorgan, and is now within the City and County of Swansea. It projects towards the Bristol Channel ...

in the County of

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 ...

'', on 10 October 2019. Lord Davies served as a Government Whip under both Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak from 2022 to 2023 before, in November 2023, being appointed as

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State for Transport are junior ministers in the Department for Transport of His Majesty's Government. They report to the Secretary of State for Transport and are responsible for various aspects of British transpo ...

in which position he served until the end of Sunak's administration. In January 2025, Davies was elected as a Co-Chair for the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Western Gateway.

Shadow Secretary of State for Wales

Following the

2024 general election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2024 United Nations Security Council election * 2024 national electoral calendar * 2024 local electo ...

when no Conservative MPs were elected in Wales, Lord Davies was appointed

in the

Shadow Cabinet of Rishi Sunak Rishi Sunak was Leader of the Opposition as Leader of the Conservative Party from 5 July to 2 November 2024, following his resignation as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the aftermath of the Conservative Party's defeat in the 2024 gene ...

; this marks the first time that the position was held by a

member of the House of Lords This is a list of current members of the House of Lords, the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Current sitting members Lords Spiritual Twenty-six bishops of the Church of England sit in the House of Lords: the Archbishops ...

. In an op-ed, Lord Davies said that his number one task in the role would be to ensure 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 ...

are “fully prepared for our much-anticipated comeback over the coming months and years.” Following an exercise involving engaging public opinion as to whether the

should support the abolition of

devolution Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territori ...

, Lord Davies criticised the

Senedd The Senedd ( ; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, Its role is to scrutinise the Welsh Government and legislate on devolve ...

Conservative Group leader

Andrew RT Davies Andrew Robert Tudor Davies CBE (born 1968) is a Welsh politician who has served as Member of the Senedd for the South Wales Central region since 2007. He has previously served as Leader of the Welsh Conservative Senedd Group from 2011 to 2 ...

, saying: “On the issue of abolishing the Senedd, the Conservative Party has no plans to support a move towards this and I see any action to test public opinion on this as completely futile.” https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdjwd033n0ko

Personal life

One of the main reasons for his electoral defeat in 2017, Davies claimed, was a member of the public claiming in online platforms that he was “being investigated for electoral fraud”. The claim was false and Davies successfully sued. In 1978, he married Gillian Adderley, having one son. Lord and Lady Davies live in

Ceredigion Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the West Wales, west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the River Dyfi, Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire t ...

, Wales. He is also a member of the

Carlton Club The Carlton Club is a private members' club in the St James's area of London, England. It was the original home of the Conservative Party before the creation of Conservative Central Office. Membership of the club is by nomination and elect ...

Honours

UK Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal ribbon

Police Long Service and Good Conduct ribbon

References

Offices held

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Byron 1952 births Living people Alumni of the University of West London People from the Gower Peninsula Welsh police officers Metropolitan Police officers Politicians from Swansea Life peers created by Elizabeth II UK MPs 2015–2017 Wales AMs 2011–2016 Conservative Party (UK) life peers Conservative Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies Conservative Party members of the Senedd Conservative Party (UK) Baronesses- and Lords-in-Waiting