W. Richard Davies (1862 – February 1938) was a Welsh

trade unionist A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

and political activist. The president of one union, and general secretary of another, he also served as a city councillor and contested numerous Parliamentary elections.

Biography

Born in South Wales, Davies worked as a shop assistant in Cardiff for a couple of years, then became a journalist, focusing on reporting the

labour movement The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...

. By 1897, he was an organiser for the Navvies, Bricklayers' Labourers and General Labourers' Union based at Barry. He was imprisoned for six weeks after being convicted of intimidating a

strikebreaker A strikebreaker (sometimes pejoratively called a scab, blackleg, bootlicker, blackguard or knobstick) is a person who works despite an ongoing strike. Strikebreakers may be current employees ( union members or not), or new hires to keep the orga ...

. He retained the backing of the union, and after his release, was elected as its president. In 1898, Davies moved to

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, to become the Midland Counties organiser of the Navvies' Union. However, the union's general secretary, John Ward, refused to allow him to see the union's books. Davies took Ward to court, but Ward did not attend, and the union's executive committee expelled Davies from the union. Davies won election as a Labour Party member of

Leicester City Council Leicester City Council is the local authority for the city of Leicester, in the ceremonial county of Leicestershire, England. Leicester has had a council from medieval times, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1997 the council ...

. In 1904, he was appointed as the first full-time organiser of the Municipal Employees' Association, while also serving as one of its district secretaries. In 1907, the union's general secretary, Albin Taylor resigned and set up the rival National Union of Corporation Workers. Bernard Dix and Stephen Williams, ''Serving the Public: Building the Union'', pp.42-208 Davies was elected to replace him, and managed to increase the membership of the union. In 1908, the union selected him as a

Prospective 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 ...

, once a suitable constituency was located, but no seat was found, and he stood down as general secretary of the union in 1913. Davies moved to

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

and became a builder. He was selected by the Labour Party to contest the 1921 Hastings by-election. He took second place, and stood again in the

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

and

1923 United Kingdom general election The 1923 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 6 December 1923. The Conservative Party (UK), Conservatives, led by Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, won the most seats, but Labour Party (UK), Labour, led by Ramsay MacDonald, and H. ...

s. He next stood in the 1928 Tavistock by-election, and contested the seat again in the

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

and

1931 United Kingdom general election The 1931 United Kingdom general election was held on Tuesday, 27 October 1931. It saw a landslide election victory for the National Government, a three-party coalition which had been formed two months previously after the collapse of the secon ...

s. In 1933, he gave a speech in the town which the ''

Western Morning News The ''Western Morning News'' is a daily regional newspaper founded in 1860, and covering the West Country including Devon, Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly and parts of Somerset and Dorset in the South West of England. Organisation The ''Western ...

'' reported as being

anti-semitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

. The Labour Party's national leadership rebuked him for this, but he maintained his position and was therefore dropped as a candidate. In February 1938, Davies suffered a fall, and died from resulting complications, aged 75.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Richard 1862 births 1938 deaths Councillors in Leicestershire General secretaries of British trade unions Labour Party (UK) councillors Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Presidents of British trade unions Welsh trade unionists