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 representing
South Wales West in
2011. 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, 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 in the
Wales Office, as a Government Whip and latterly as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the
Department for Transport.
House of Lords Davies was nominated for a
life peerage in
Theresa May's
resignation honours list on 10 September 2019. He was created
Baron Davies of Gower,
of Gower in the County of Swansea, 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 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 when no Conservative MPs were elected in Wales, Lord Davies was appointed
Shadow Secretary of State for Wales in the
Shadow Cabinet of Rishi Sunak; this marks the first time that the position was held by a member of the
House of Lords. In an op-ed, Lord Davies said that his number one task in the role would be to ensure the
Welsh Conservatives 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
Welsh Conservatives should support the abolition of
devolution, Lord Davies criticised the
Senedd Conservative Group leader
Andrew RT Davies, 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.” Lord Davies was replaced as
Shadow Secretary of State for Wales in November 2024 with
Mims Davies.
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; the pair live in
Ceredigion, Wales. He is also a member of the
Carlton Club,
Royal Air Force Club and the
Farmers Club. ==Honours==