- Rhys Davies (politician)
Rhys John Davies (April 16, 1877 - October 31, 1954) was a British trades unionist and Labour politician.
Davies was born in
Llangennech ,Carmarthenshire , the son of Rhys and Ann Davies. After an elementary education he initially worked as a farm labourer. He subsequently moved to the Rhondda Valley, where he worked as a coalminer for ten years. From an early age he was involved in the local co-operative society and became a union official organising shop-assistants throughoutSouth Wales . This led to his moving toManchester , to take up a post with theAmalgamated Union of Co-operative Employees and later the National Union of Distributive and Allied Workers."Obituary: Mr R J Davies", The Times, November 2, 1951]He was a member of
Manchester City Council for thirty years, and also president of the Manchester and Salford Trades Council and of theWithington Divisional Parliamentary Labour Party.In 1921 W T Wilson, Labour Member of Parliament for Westhoughton, died and Davies was elected at a by-election to suceed him. He served in the
first Labour Government in 1924 asParliamentary Under-Secretary at theHome Office . This was the only public office he held.He retained the Westhoughton seat through successive elections until he retired from the House of Commons early in 1951. ["MP not to seek re-election", The Times, April 10, 1951, p.7] At the time he was the longest-serving Labour MP.Davies was a strong supporter of the
temperance andpacifist movements. He was also a committed parliamentarian, and served as joint secretary of the British group of theInter-Parliamentary Union .He married Margaret Thomas in 1902, and they had three sons. R J Davies died at his home in
Porthcawl ,Glamorgan , in 1954, aged 77.References
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