View source for Ron Davies (Welsh politician)

{{Short description|Welsh politician (born 1946)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name                = Ron Davies
| image               = Rondavies1998 (cropped).jpg
| caption             = Davies in 1998
| office              = [[Welsh Labour|Leader of Welsh Labour]]
| 1blankname          = [[Leader of the Labour Party (UK)|UK&nbsp;party&nbsp;leader]]
| 1namedata           = [[Tony Blair]]
| term_start          = 19 September 1998
| term_end            = 29 October 1998
| predecessor         = ''Position established''
| successor           = [[Alun Michael]]
| office1             = [[Secretary of State for Wales]]
| primeminister1      = [[Tony Blair]]
| term_start1         = 2 May 1997
| term_end1           = 27 October 1998
| predecessor1        = [[William Hague]]
| successor1          = [[Alun Michael]]
| office2             = [[Shadow Secretary of State for Wales]]
| leader2             = [[John Smith (Labour Party leader)|John Smith]]<br />[[Margaret Beckett]]<br />[[Tony Blair]]
| term_start2         = 5 November 1992
| term_end2           = 2 May 1997
| predecessor2        = [[Ann Clwyd]]
| successor2          = [[William Hague]]
| office3             = [[Member of the Senedd|Member of the Welsh Assembly]]<br />for [[Caerphilly (Senedd constituency)|Caerphilly]]
| term_start3         = 6 May 1999
| term_end3           = 1 May 2003
| predecessor3        = ''Constituency established''
| successor3          = [[Jeffrey Cuthbert]]
| office4             = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]]<br />for [[Caerphilly (UK Parliament constituency)|Caerphilly]]
| term_start4         = 9 June 1983
| term_end4           = 14 May 2001
| predecessor4        = [[Ednyfed Hudson Davies]]
| successor4          = [[Wayne David]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|1946|8|6|df=y}}
| birth_place         =  [[Machen]], Monmouthshire (historic), Wales

| death_date          = 
| death_place         = 
| party               = [[Welsh Labour|Labour]] (until 2004)<br />[[Forward Wales]] (2004–2009)<br />[[Independent politician|Independent]] (2009–2010)<br />[[Plaid Cymru]] (2010–present)
| spouse              = {{marriage|[[Christina Rees]]||1999|reason=div}}{{marriage|Lynn Hughes|2002|}}
| alma_mater          = [[University of Portsmouth]]<br />[[Cardiff University]]
| signature           = Ron Davies Welsh politician signature.svg
}}
'''Ronald Davies''' (born 6 August 1946) is a retired Welsh politician, former [[Secretary of State for Wales]], former [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] and former member of the [[Welsh Assembly]]. He describes himself as a politician belonging to the "traditional left" who had "spent his life looking for a [[socialist]] progressive party". He was a member of the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] (until 2004), and then of [[Forward Wales]] (2004–2009); he was subsequently an independent candidate and eventually joined [[Plaid Cymru]] in 2010.<ref name=RejectsOld>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-11265967 |title=Ex-Labour Cabinet minister Ron Davies rejects old party |work=BBC News |date=11 September 2010 |access-date=8 January 2014}}</ref>

Davies is credited with being the "architect of [[Welsh Devolution|devolution]]" in [[Wales]] and led the campaign to create the [[National Assembly for Wales]]. He became the first Cabinet Minister to resign from [[Tony Blair]]'s [[First Blair ministry|Cabinet]] in 1998, following what became known as a "moment of madness" when he was mugged at knifepoint after agreeing to go for a meal with a man he had met at [[Clapham Common]].

==Early and personal life==
Born in [[Machen]] in the [[Rhymney Valley]] in [[Monmouthshire (historic)|Monmouthshire]], he was educated in [[Bassaleg School|Bassaleg Grammar School]] before graduating in Geography at [[Portsmouth Polytechnic]].

Davies was first elected as a Councillor in 1969 to the former Machen Urban District Council at the age of 23. A year later he became the youngest council leader in Britain at the age of 24. After local government re-organisation in 1974, he continued as a leader of the newly constituted Rhymney Valley District Council and led a campaign for a Fair Rents Act against plans by the Conservative Government of [[Edward Heath]] to increase the amount of rent paid by council house tenants. However, in Labour circles it was well known that he wanted to surrender to the government, but was voted down by the local party management, led by Ray Davies.{{source needed|date=July 2024}} 

After training to be a teacher at [[Cardiff University]] he spent two years as a school teacher before becoming a Tutor-Organiser for the [[Workers' Educational Association]], succeeding [[Neil Kinnock]] in 1970 when the future Labour leader was elected to Parliament. He went on Further to become Education Adviser for the Mid-Glamorgan Education Authority from 1974 until 1983, when he was elected to Parliament as the Labour MP for [[Caerphilly (UK Parliament constituency)|Caerphilly]].

Davies was married to fellow Welsh MP [[Christina Rees]]; the couple divorced in 1999 and have one daughter, Angharad.<ref name=":0">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-38931156|title=Profile: New Shadow Welsh Secretary Christina Rees|work=BBC News|date=10 February 2017|access-date=30 January 2023}}</ref> He subsequently married his third wife, Lynne Hughes, they met on a Welsh-language course, marrying at a register office in Caerphilly on 5 August 2002.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/2172992.stm|title=Register office wedding for Davies|work=BBC News|date=5 August 2002|access-date=27 March 2024}}</ref>

==Political career==
===Parliament===
After two years as a [[Backbencher|backbench MP]], Davies was appointed an Opposition [[Whip (politics)|Whip]] in 1985, where his subject areas included agriculture and the environment. In 1987 he was appointed to the opposition frontbench as a spokesman on Agriculture and Rural Affairs responsible for reviewing the Labour Party's policies on animal welfare.

He was appointed Chief Opposition spokesman for agriculture in July 1992 and did much to highlight the growing threat from [[Bovine spongiform encephalopathy|BSE]]. In November 1992 he was appointed [[Shadow Secretary of State for Wales]] by [[John Smith (Labour Party leader)|John Smith]].

As the Labour Party's chief spokesman for Wales from 1992 to 1997, Davies developed the party's devolution policy. He negotiated support for a sixty-member Welsh Assembly to take over the functions of the Secretary of State for Wales and elected by an element of [[Proportional representation|proportionality]]. His personal preference for a body with stronger powers was defeated internally.

In May 1997 Davies was appointed by [[Tony Blair]] to the [[Privy Council (United Kingdom)|Privy Council]] and the [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|Cabinet]] as Secretary of State for Wales. One of his first acts was to return the £150,000 to the [[Aberfan disaster]] fund that a previous Labour Government had taken to restore the site of the landslide that had devastated the valley's community in 1966, although controversially this was without interest being paid. As over thirty years had passed, the money was worth a fraction of its original value.

In July 1997, he published the Government's detailed devolution proposals in the [[White paper]] "A Voice for Wales" and led the Labour Party's successful campaign for a 'yes' vote in the devolution [[1997 Welsh devolution referendum|referendum]] on 18 September 1997. Though Labour reversed a 4 to 1 majority against devolution recorded in the [[1979 Welsh devolution referendum|1979 referendum]], the slender majority of 0.6% on a 50.1% turnout, cast a shadow over the institution's authority.

He steered the Government of Wales Bill through [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]], and on 31 July 1998, he saw the [[Government of Wales Act 1998|Government of Wales Act]] reach the statute book, putting in place the legislation to set up the first ever [[Senedd|National Assembly for Wales]].

He has been credited with being "the architect of devolution", and was appointed to the highest order of the [[Gorsedd]] of the Bards at the 1998 National [[Eisteddfod]] in [[Bridgend]], earning the bardic name "Ron o Fachen" (Ron from [[Machen]])

==="Moment of madness" and resignation===
On 19 September 1998, Davies defeated [[Rhodri Morgan]] to become Labour's candidate for First Secretary of the Assembly at a special Welsh Labour Party conference in [[Newport, Wales|Newport]]. Just over a month later, he was embroiled in a scandal after being mugged at knifepoint on [[Clapham Common]] in London, a well-known [[gay]] meeting place. He was mugged after agreeing to go for what he said was a meal with a man he had met while walking on the common. He resigned as the Secretary of State for Wales on 27 October 1998, and stood down as candidate for First Secretary two days later. The full details of the incident (which he described as a "moment of madness" at the urging of [[Tony Blair]]'s [[Press secretary]] [[Alastair Campbell]]) have never emerged.<ref name="MomentOfMadness">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/204691.stm|title=My 'moment of madness'|access-date=15 May 2007|work=BBC News | date=31 October 1998}}</ref> He later acknowledged that he was [[bisexual]], and was receiving treatment for a personality disorder which led him to seek out risky situations.<ref name="bisexual">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/2834145.stm|title=Davies stands down in sex storm|date=9 March 2003|access-date=25 May 2009|work=BBC News}}</ref> He stood down from Parliament at the [[2001 United Kingdom general election|2001 general election]].

===National Assembly for Wales===
On 30 January 1999, Davies was selected as a Labour candidate for the first elections to the National Assembly for Wales. He was elected on [[1999 National Assembly for Wales election|6 May 1999]] as Assembly Member for the [[Caerphilly (Senedd constituency)|Caerphilly constituency]], and initially chaired the Economic Development Committee after [[Alun Michael]] refused to appoint him to his Cabinet. Further revelations and disagreements with the Labour leadership resulted in his resignation from the chairmanship of the committee.

He is known for the phrase "Devolution is a process and not an event", by which he meant that the settlement he introduced in 1997 would not be the final one, and more powers would accrue to the Welsh Assembly over time. He wrote a pamphlet for the [[think tank]] the [[Institute of Welsh Affairs]] with the same title in 1998.

Shortly before the [[2003 National Assembly for Wales election|2003 assembly elections]], ''[[The Sun (United Kingdom)|The Sun]]'' revealed that Davies had been visiting a well known [[cruising for sex|cruising]] spot near a motorway [[lay-by]]. When challenged as to what he had been doing there, Davies initially denied being there, then told reporters that he had been going for a short walk, adding: "I have actually been there when I have been watching badgers". Davies was forced by his local party to stand down as Labour candidate in the election.<ref name="MotorwayIncident">{{cite news|last=Wintour|first=Patrick |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/mar/10/uk.wales|title=Ron Davies ends political career|work=The Guardian| date=10 March 2003|access-date=31 December 2016}}</ref>

===Political activity since 2003===
Davies resigned from the Labour Party in 2004, citing opposition to the [[Iraq War]], the party's stance on university funding and worries about the competence of [[Welsh Labour]].<ref name="ResignsFromLabour">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/3428381.stm|title='Disillusioned' Davies quits Labour|access-date=15 May 2007|work=BBC News | date=26 January 2004}}</ref> He subsequently joined the new [[Forward Wales]] political party, and stood for election to the [[European Parliament]] in June 2004 as a candidate of that party, but failed to be elected. He then stood unsuccessfully in the [[2007 National Assembly for Wales election|2007 assembly elections]] as an independent for Caerphilly,<ref name="StandsInCaerphilly">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6330799.stm|title=Davies to contest assembly seat|access-date=1 May 2007|work=BBC News | date=5 February 2007}}</ref> placing third behind Labour and [[Plaid Cymru]].<ref name="2007results">{{cite web|url=http://www.caerphilly.gov.uk/thecouncil/elections/electionresults/|title=Election Results 2007 – Caerphilly Constituency|access-date=6 May 2007|publisher=National Assembly for Wales |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927222101/http://www.caerphilly.gov.uk/thecouncil/elections/electionresults/ <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 27 September 2007}}</ref>

In the [[2008 United Kingdom local elections|2008 local elections]] he was elected to [[Caerphilly County Borough Council]], as an independent councillor for the Bedwas, Trethomas and Machen ward. He also was the Cabinet Member for Regeneration.<ref name=RejectsOld/>

Davies then started actively supporting the [[Plaid Cymru]] administration in [[Caerphilly]]. His Forward Wales Party disbanded in January 2010,<ref name="caerphillyobserver.co.uk">{{cite web|url=http://www.caerphillyobserver.co.uk/news/2206/ron-davies-forward-wales-party-to-disband/ |title=Ron Davies' Forward Wales party to disband|publisher=Caerphilly Media|work=Caerphilly Observer|date=26 January 2010 |access-date=8 January 2014}}</ref> paving the way for him to stand as a Plaid Cymru candidate. Davies appeared at a Plaid Cymru rally in [[Aberystwyth]] during the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010 UK general election]] campaign.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/wales/8641795.stm|title=Election campaigning continues across Wales|access-date=27 April 2010|work=BBC News| date=24 April 2010}}</ref> He joined the party later in 2010 and stood unsuccessfully as the party's candidate in Caerphilly in the [[2011 National Assembly for Wales election|2011 Assembly elections]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-13313735|department=Vote 2011 |title=Welsh Labour falls short of overall majority|work=BBC News|access-date=8 January 2014}}</ref> In 2012 he stood as a Plaid Cymru candidate for Bedwas, and was defeated.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/welsh-politics/welsh-politics-news/2012/05/04/election-2012-ron-davies-swept-away-as-labour-brushes-off-plaid-91466-30900269/ |title=Election 2012: Ron Davies swept away as Labour brushes off Plaid |publisher=Reach|work=Wales Online |date=4 May 2012 |access-date=8 January 2014}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000817010910/h%74tp://www.rondavies.co.uk/ |date=17 August 2000 |title=Ron Davies AM MP}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20010308102013/http://www.llgc.org.uk/ymgyrchu/Datganoli/Refferendwm/index-e.htm Documents on devolution] National Library of Wales

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{{s-bef|before=[[Ednyfed Hudson Davies]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]]<br />for [[Caerphilly (UK Parliament constituency)|Caerphilly]]|years=[[1983 United Kingdom general election|1983]]–[[2001 United Kingdom general election|2001]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Wayne David]]}}
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Secretary of State for Wales]]|years=1997–1998}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Alun Michael]]}}
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Member of the Senedd|Assembly Member]]<br />for [[Caerphilly (Senedd constituency)|Caerphilly]]|years=[[1999 National Assembly for Wales election|1999]]–[[2003 National Assembly for Wales election|2003]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Jeffrey Cuthbert]]}}
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{{Secretaries of State for Wales}}
{{Plaid Cymru}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Ron}}
[[Category:1946 births]]
[[Category:Alumni of Cardiff University]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Portsmouth]]
[[Category:Bards of Gorsedd Cymru]]
[[Category:Bisexual male politicians]]
[[Category:21st-century Welsh LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:Welsh Labour MPs]]
[[Category:Leaders of political parties in Wales]]
[[Category:LGBTQ members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Welsh LGBTQ politicians]]
[[Category:Welsh bisexual men]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Welsh Labour members of the Senedd]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:People educated at Bassaleg School]]
[[Category:People from Machen]]
[[Category:People with personality disorders]]
[[Category:Plaid Cymru politicians]]
[[Category:Secretaries of state for Wales]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1983–1987]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1987–1992]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1992–1997]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1997–2001]]
[[Category:Wales AMs 1999–2003]]
[[Category:Welsh socialists]]
[[Category:Welsh-speaking politicians]]
[[Category:Councillors in Wales]]
[[Category:Welsh devolution]]
[[Category:LGBTQ members of the Senedd]]
[[Category:Welsh republicans]]
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