Mims Davies
MP
Official portrait, 2019
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Disabled People, Health and Work
Assumed office
14 December 2023
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded byTom Pursglove
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Social Mobility, Youth and Progression
In office
27 October 2022 – 14 December 2023
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding
In office
20 September 2022 – 27 October 2022
Prime MinisterLiz Truss
Preceded byAmanda Solloway
Succeeded bySarah Dines
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment
In office
25 July 2019 – 6 July 2022
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byAlok Sharma
Succeeded byJulie Marson
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Sport, Civil Society and Loneliness
In office
5 November 2018 – 25 July 2019
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded byTracey Crouch
Succeeded byNigel Adams[lower-alpha 1]
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales
In office
26 July 2018 – 5 November 2018
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded byStuart Andrew
Succeeded byNigel Adams
Member of Parliament
for Mid Sussex
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byNicholas Soames
Majority18,197 (29.0%)
Member of Parliament
for Eastleigh
In office
7 May 2015 – 6 November 2019
Preceded byMike Thornton
Succeeded byPaul Holmes
Personal details
Born
Miriam Jane Alice Davies

(1975-06-02) 2 June 1975
Political partyConservative
Children2
Alma materSwansea University
WebsiteOfficial website

Miriam Jane Alice Davies[1] (born 2 June 1975), known as Mims Davies, is a British Conservative Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Sussex since 2019. She has served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Disabled People, Health and Work since December 2023. She previously served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Social Mobility, Youth and Progression from October 2022 to December 2023 and [2][3] Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding from September to October 2022.[4][5]

Davies was first elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Eastleigh in May 2015.[6] She was the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Sport, Civil Society and Loneliness in Theresa May's government from 2018 to 2019. After Boris Johnson became Prime Minister in July 2019, Davies was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment at the Department for Work and Pensions. She was elected in the 2019 election as the MP for Mid Sussex.[7] She resigned as Employment Minister in July 2022, after losing confidence in Johnson's leadership.[8]

Early life and career

Davies was educated at the Royal Russell School in London and Collyers Sixth Form College in Horsham, and studied Politics and International Relations at Swansea University;[9] she was the first in her family to enter higher education.[10] She worked primarily as a local radio presenter, reporter and producer.[9] She later worked as a road safety communications officer with the Automobile Association, the police force and Sussex Safer Roads Partnership.[10]

Political career

Davies served as a Conservative Party town councillor for Haywards Heath Town Council and as a District councillor on Mid Sussex District Council for the Haywards Heath Lucastes ward from 2011 to 2015. Davies was initially co-opted onto Hurstpierpoint and Sayers Common Parish Council, which began her political involvement.

At the 2015 general election on 7 May, Davies was elected as MP for Eastleigh, defeating Liberal Democrat incumbent Mike Thornton by over 9,000 votes. She was re-elected in the 2017 general election, increasing her share of the vote by 8.2% and receiving over half of the total votes in the constituency,[11] the first majority vote in Eastleigh since the 1992 election.

She campaigned for the UK to leave the European Union during the 2016 referendum.[12]

Davies was appointed an Assistant Government Whip on 9 January 2018, and subsequently to the role of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales on 26 July 2018.[13]

In the House of Commons she sat on the Commons Reference Group on Representation and Inclusion and previously sat on the Consolidation Bills (Joint Committee) and Women and Equalities Committee.[14] On 23 October 2018, Davies resigned from a committee chaired by Commons Speaker John Bercow, citing lack of confidence in Bercow's ability to tackle bullying and sexual harassment problems in Parliament.[15][16][17][18]

On 5 November 2018, Davies was appointed Minister for Sport and Civil Society at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, after the resignation of Tracey Crouch over a delay to the introduction of reduced limits on the stakes of fixed-odds betting terminals.

In February 2019, in her role as Sports Minister, she called for an urgent summit with football leaders in order to address issues relating to abuse in the sport.[19] She suggested there should be a zero tolerance approach to problems concerning racist, homophobic and antisemitic chanting.[20]

In May 2019, she attended the "End the cage age" event campaigning against caged birds. This event was organised by Compassion in World Farming. Davies stated that she was against caged laying hens.[21]

In July 2019, new Prime Minister Boris Johnson appointed Davies to the position of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment at the Department for Work and Pensions.

On 30 October 2019, Davies announced she would be standing down as MP for Eastleigh in order to spend more time with her children and later announced she was to be on the shortlist for the Mid Sussex constituency, where Nicholas Soames was retiring.[22][23] On 9 November, she was selected to stand for the seat, which she won at the 2019 general election with 53.3% of the vote.[7]

On 6 July 2022 she resigned from her position as Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department for Work and Pensions, having lost confidence in Boris Johnson as a result of the Chris Pincher scandal.[8]

Personal life

She was a carer to her two elderly parents before becoming an MP, and this experience informed a significant portion of her parliamentary work.[24] She is a keen runner and has completed several long-distance races, including the 2017 London Marathon.[25]

Notes

  1. ↑ Adams succeeded Davies as Minister of State for Sport, Media and Creative Industries and The Baroness Barran succeeded Davies as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Civil Society and Loneliness.

References

  1. ↑ "No. 61230". The London Gazette. 18 May 2015. p. 9122.
  2. ↑ "Ministerial Appointments commencing: 25 October 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  3. ↑ "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Social Mobility, Youth and Progression) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  4. ↑ "Ministerial Appointments: September 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  5. ↑ "My Column for the Mid Sussex Times". Mims Davies. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  6. ↑ Eastleigh parliamentary constituency – Election 2015, BBC News; accessed 8 May 2015.
  7. 1 2 "Sussex Mid Parliamentary constituency". BBC election results 2019 GE. BBC News. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  8. 1 2 Brown, Faye (6 July 2022). "Boris Johnson's government crumbles after six more ministers quit in one go". Metro. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  9. 1 2 Carr, Tim; Dale, Iain; Waller, Robert (22 May 2015). The Politicos Guide to the New House of Commons 2015: Profiles of the New MPs and Analysis of the 2015 General Election Results. Biteback Publishing. ISBN 9781849549240.
  10. 1 2 "About Mims Davies". Mims Davies MP for Eastleigh Constituency. J Jamieson. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  11. ↑ "Eastleigh parliamentary constituency – Election 2017". BBC News. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  12. ↑ "EU vote: Where the cabinet and other MPs stand". BBC News. 22 June 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  13. ↑ "Mims Davies is new Wales Office minister". BBC News. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  14. ↑ "Mims Davies". Parliament UK. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  15. ↑ "Theresa May briefs cabinet on Brexit negotiations". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  16. ↑ Kentish, Benjamin (23 October 2018). "Pressure on John Bercow after three Tory MPs resign from Commons committee he chairs". The Independent. Archived from the original on 15 May 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  17. ↑ Yorke, Harry (23 October 2018). "John Bercow thrust back into spotlight over Westminster bullying as three Government members quit his committee". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  18. ↑ "MPs quit Commons group because Speaker Bercow chairs it". BBC News. 23 October 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  19. ↑ "Sports minister Mims Davies to hold meeting with football leaders to tackle abuse". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  20. ↑ "Sports minister Mims Davies calls for summit to tackle increase in abuse". The Guardian. 4 February 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  21. ↑ "Mims Davies on Twitter". Twitter. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  22. ↑ "Standing Down Statement". Mims Davies MP. Archived from the original on 1 November 2019.
  23. ↑ "Mims Davies Statement". 6 November 2019. Archived from the original on 6 November 2019.
  24. ↑ "Carers". 9 June 2016. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  25. ↑ "Latest News: MPs look back at Marathon effort". 6 June 2017. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
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