Gareth Davies (English politician)

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This article is about the Member of Parliament elected in 2019. For the Member of the Senedd elected in 2021, see Gareth Davies (Welsh politician).

Gareth Davies
MP
Official portrait, 2019
Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury
In office
21 April 2023 – 5 July 2024
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded byJames Cartlidge
Succeeded byJames Murray
Member of Parliament
for Grantham and Bourne
Grantham and Stamford (2019-2024)
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byNick Boles
Majority4,496 (9.7%)
Personal details
Born
Gareth Mark Davies

(1984-03-31) 31 March 1984 (age 40)
Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
Political partyConservative
SpouseLaura Davies
Alma mater
Websitegarethdavies.co.uk

Gareth Mark Davies (born 31 March 1984)[1] is a British politician who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Grantham and Bourne.[2] He was previously the MP for Grantham and Stamford from the 2019 general election until the seat's abolition in 2024.

A member of the Conservative Party, he served as the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury from April 2023 to July 2024.[3]

Early life

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Davies was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, as the eldest of two sons.[4] His mother and father were a state primary school teacher and a small business owner respectively.

He attended state comprehensive schools in Leeds and Hull.[4] Davies later completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Nottingham, graduating in 2006. He then completed a Master's of Public Administration at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 2016, focusing on economics, trade, and foreign affairs.[4] During his time at Harvard, he travelled to North Korea on a study visit.[5]

Business career

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Davies began working in the investment industry in 2006 as a graduate trainee at Threadneedle Investments, an asset management firm.[5] Threadneedle later became Columbia Threadneedle Investments. He worked there for 14 years, rising to global senior level roles. He travelled for his work across the United States, Europe, China, and the Asia-Pacific region, advising global pension funds, private banks, and sovereign wealth funds.[6]

While at Columbia Threadneedle Investments, he helped create the firm’s first charitable foundation, which supports small British charities focused on social mobility.[4]

In 2018, Davies was named as a 'rising star' in European finance by Financial News.[7]

Political career

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Davies worked for the Conservative Party on a voluntary basis before entering Parliament.[5] At the 2010 general election he stood as the Conservative candidate for Doncaster Central, finishing second with 24.8% of the vote.[8][9] At the snap 2017 general election he stood as the Conservative candidate in Leeds Central, finishing second with 20.5% of the vote behind the incumbent Labour MP Hilary Benn.[10]

Ahead of the 2019 general election, he was selected as the prospective Conservative candidate for Grantham and Stamford.[11] It is a safe Conservative seat, having elected a member of the party since 1997. At the 2019 general election, Davies was elected as MP with 65.7% of the vote and a majority of 26,003, achieving a swing of 5.4% and the largest majority in the seat's history.[12][13] He made his maiden speech in Parliament in March 2020.[14]

Davies served on the House of Commons Finance Select Committee between 2020 and 2023 and the Treasury Select Committee between 2021 and 2022.[15] Following one session of the Treasury Select Committee in May 2022, Davies garnered media attention when Andrew Bailey, the Governor of the Bank of England, admitted to him that he felt "helpless" in the face of rising inflation.[16][17]

In 2021, Davies introduced a Private Member’s Bill to the Commons, which was entitled the Paternity (Leave and Pay) Bill.[18] The bill was based on a policy report Davies wrote for the Centre for Social Justice.[19] It aimed to extend the eligibility of paternity leave and pay to include more fathers, as well as to provide for more flexibility in the timing of and notice period for paternity leave. However, the bill never progressed beyond its second reading.

Davies was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) at the Department of Health and Social Care.[20] He was later appointed PPS to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, in November 2022.[15]

Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury

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See also: Sunak ministry

Davies was appointed as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in April 2023, following a mini-reshuffle.[21] His responsibilities included UK economic growth, productivity, and investment, which also covered UK infrastructure, the digital economy, economic regulation and foreign direct investment.   

Opposition

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In the 2024 United Kingdom general election, he was elected in the newly named constituency of Grantham and Bourne with a much reduced majority.[22]

Political views

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Davies is considered to be on the right of the British parliamentary party and is a member of the 92 Group of Conservative MPs,[4] an invitation-only group associated with furthering Thatcherism.  

Davies has described himself in an interview with the Financial Times as "a businessman in politics" and has used his time in Parliament to push for more policies that mobilise private capital.[5]

Davies successfully lobbied the Government to issue its first ever sovereign green bond, which the Chancellor announced in 2020.[23] [24] This policy saw the Government issue over £10 billion of dedicated debt to "specifically fund capital investment in infrastructure that will help stimulate the British economy."[25][26]

In October 2020, Davies authored a report for Onward on the case for a British development bank.[27] The Government later announced the launch of the UK Infrastructure Bank in 2021.[28]

In March 2022, Davies wrote a report titled 'Investing for Prosperity' for the Centre for Policy Studies.[29] In the report, he called for the reform of British International Investment (BII) to unlock new sources of capital and harness new financial instruments. In November 2023, Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron published an FCDO white paper which included a commitment to implement a number of reforms to BII championed by Davies.[30]

Davies has been a staunch opponent of the 4.2 mile (6.76km) Mallard Pass Solar Farm, which straddles Lincolnshire and Rutland, and aims to provide renewable energy to 92,000 homes.[31]

Davies has written several opinion pieces for the Daily Telegraph, CityAm, Financial Times, and The Times and has regularly appeared as a commentator on national and international television and radio.[32][33][34]

Personal life

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Davies is married to Laura Davies and lives in his constituency of Grantham and Bourne.[35]

References

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  1. ^ Brunskill, Ian (19 March 2020). The Times guide to the House of Commons 2019 : the definitive record of Britain's historic 2019 General Election. HarperCollins Publishers Limited. p. 211. ISBN 978-0-00-839258-1. OCLC 1129682574.
  2. ^ "Grantham and Bourne - General election results 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  3. ^ "Ministerial Appointments: April 2023". GOV.UK. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e "About Gareth". garethdavies.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d Riding, Siobhan (9 August 2020). "Former fund executive pushes green agenda in Westminster". Financial Times. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  6. ^ "Davies, Gareth, MP (C) Grantham and Stamford, since 2019". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 2020. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u293938. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  7. ^ Financial News (19 September 2018). "Meet the Rising Stars of Asset Management 2018". Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  8. ^ "Doncaster Central". BBC News: Election 2010. BBC. 6 May 2010. Archived from the original on 11 July 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
  9. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  10. ^ "Leeds Central" (PDF). Leeds City Council. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  11. ^ "Grantham and Stamford Conservative Association selects new candidate to replace Nick Boles at next election". www.sleafordstandard.co.uk.
  12. ^ "Grantham & Stamford Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  13. ^ "2019 BES Constituency Results with Census and Candidate Data". The British Election Study. BES. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  14. ^ "Gareth Davies MP Delivers Maiden Speech". Gareth Davies MP. 11 March 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  15. ^ a b "Gareth Davies MP". GOV.UK. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  16. ^ Baxter-Derrington, James (16 May 2022). "Bank of England 'helpless' to steady spiralling inflation". Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  17. ^ Warrington, James; Bottaro, Giulia (16 May 2022). "We are helpless in face of inflation, claims Bank of England Governor". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  18. ^ "Paternity (Leave and Pay) Bill". UK Parliament. 2 November 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  19. ^ "CSJ Discussions: Paternity Leave". The Centre for Social Justice. 17 March 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  20. ^ Laver, Adam (6 July 2022). "Another Lincolnshire MP resigns as PPS piling pressure onto Boris Johnson". Lincolnshire Live. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  21. ^ "Oliver Dowden becomes new deputy PM and Alex Chalk new justice secretary after Raab resignation over bullying report". Sky News. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  22. ^ "Grantham and Bourne - General election results 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  23. ^ Mair, Vibeka (8 September 2021). "MP Gareth Davies: Columbia Threadneedle's ex- responsible investment chief on what's needed to boost social impact investment in the UK". Responsible Investor. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  24. ^ Davies, Gareth (7 October 2020). "Gilt-edged solution to UK's climate change mission". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  25. ^ "UK's first Green Gilt raises £10 billion for green projects". GOV.UK. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  26. ^ Davies, Gareth (1 May 2020). "Coronavirus: Recovery is perfect timing for a UK green bond". CityAM. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  27. ^ "The Case For A British Development Bank - Report - Onward". www.ukonward.com. 2 October 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  28. ^ "Grantham MP wins campaign for development bank". Grantham Nub News. 26 November 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  29. ^ "Investing for Prosperity". The Centre for Policy Studies. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  30. ^ "International development in a contested world: ending extreme poverty and tackling climate change, a white paper on international development". GOV.UK. 22 January 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  31. ^ "Mallard Pass: Plans for UK's biggest solar farm face review". BBC News. 2022.
  32. ^ "Gareth Davies MP". The Telegraph. 2 February 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  33. ^ "Gareth Davies MP, Author at CityAM". CityAM. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  34. ^ Davies, Gareth (15 July 2024). "Increase social investment by putting profit and purpose together". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  35. ^ "Would-be Stamford MP 'will live in constituency' and be 'local champion' says Conservative Party". LincsOnline. 2 August 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
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