Terry Davis (politician)

Terence Anthony Gordon Davis (born 5 January 1938), known as Terry Davis, is a British Labour Party politician, and former Member of Parliament for the Birmingham Hodge Hill constituency, and current Secretary General of the Council of Europe. He is a member of the Privy Council.

Early life

He went to the King Edward VI Grammar School (now the King Edward VI College) in Stourbridge. Davis is a graduate of University College London where he gained a LLB in 1962 and University of Michigan's Ross School of Business where he gained an MBA in 1962. He was a company executive from 1962-71 for Esso, Clarks shoes and Chrysler Parts. From 1974-9, he was a Manager in the motor industry, namely Leyland Cars.

Parliamentary career

At the 1970 general election, Davis stood unsuccessfully in the Conservative-held Bromsgrove constituency. However the sitting MP, James Dance, died the following year, and Davis won the resulting by-election.

The Bromsgrove constituency was abolished in boundary changes for the February 1974 general election, and in the new Bromsgrove and Redditch constituency, Davis lost to the Conservative Hal Miller. He stood again at the October 1974 general election and lost again.

In 1977, Birmingham Stechford Labour MP, Roy Jenkins, was appointed as President of the European Commission, and Davis was selected as the Labour candidate in the by-election. He lost by 1,949 votes to the Conservative Andrew MacKay, but at the 1979 general election, he won the seat with a majority of 1,649.

The Stechford constituency was abolished in boundary changes for the 1983 general election, and Davis was re-elected in the successor constituency of Birmingham Hodge Hill. He held that seat until his retirement from the House of Commons 21 years later.

In June 2004 he was elected Secretary General of the Council of Europe and announced his intention to stand down from the UK parliament, by applying for the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds. The resulting by-election was held on 15 July and won by Labour's Liam Byrne.

Personal life

He married Anne Cooper in 1963. They have a son and daughter.

References

*Rayment
* [http://www.coe.int/t/e/SG/SG/CV_Davis.asp Council of Europe: curriculum vitæ for Terry Davis]