Geraint Davies (Labour politician)

Geraint Richard Davies (born 3 May 1960) is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Swansea West from 2010 to 2024. He was elected as a member of the Labour and Co-operative Party, but was suspended from the party in 2023 and sat the remainder of his term as an independent.

Previously, Davies was the Labour MP for Croydon Central from 1997 to 2005. He had also served as the Leader of Croydon London Borough Council.

Early life and career
Geraint Davies was born on 3 May 1960 in Chester. His family comes from west Wales; his civil servant father is from Aberystwyth and his mother's family are from Swansea. He was brought up in Cardiff where he attended Llanishen High School, before studying Mathematics then Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Jesus College, Oxford where he was Junior Common Room President.

Davies joined Unilever as a Group Product Manager in 1982, and became Group Product Manager before joining Colgate-Palmolive as Marketing Manager. He then started his own companies including Pure Crete Ltd. and Equity Creative Ltd.

Political career
Davies has been active in the Labour Party since 1982, being Assistant Secretary for Croydon North East Labour Party and Chair of Croydon Central Constituency Labour Party. He was a member of the Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs, and later the Manufacturing, Science and Finance union. He has been a member of the Co-operative Party since 1984 and joined the GMB in 1985. Davies became Director of Pure Crete Ltd, described as a 'Green tour operator', in 1989.

Davies was elected to Croydon London Borough Council in 1986 representing New Addington ward, retaining the seat in 1990 and 1994. He became Chairman of the Housing Committee when Labour won control of Croydon London Borough Council in 1994.

He was elected Leader of the Council in 1996, resigning from the role and his council seat in 1997. He was also chair of the Housing Committee of the London Boroughs Association, the predecessor of London Councils, from 1996 to 1997.

Parliamentary career
At the 1987 general election, Davies stood as the Labour Party candidate in Croydon South, coming third with 9.8% of the vote behind the incumbent Conservative MP William Clark and the Liberal Party candidate.

Davies stood in Croydon Central at the 1992 general election, coming second with 31.3% of the vote behind the Conservative candidate Paul Beresford.

MP for Croydon Central
At the 1997 general election, Davies was elected to Parliament as MP for Croydon Central with 45.6% of the vote and a majority of 3,897. He was re-elected as MP for Croydon Central at the 2001 general election with an increased vote share of 47.2% and an increased majority of 3,984.

In February 2004, he was involved in a high-profile campaign for the release of British detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay, with Feroz Abbasi and Moazzam Begg finally released on 25 January 2005.

For the year 2004–05, Davies' MP costs, including staff and offices in Parliament and his constituency, were the highest in the country. Davies said "this shows I was one of the most hard-working MPs in Britain." According to the Daily Telegraph this included over £4,000 on a central London flat 12 miles from his constituency home and taxi expenses he should not have been entitled to claim because of his second home. He also spent £38,750 on postage which he claimed were the result of his constituency Croydon Central being virtually the biggest and, due to the Lunar House Home Office Immigration Department, arguably the busiest in the UK. "Somebody has got to do the most work. I am proud it was me", he said. Davies repaid £156 used to post his annual report calendars by prepaid envelopes instead of stamps. Davies spent £2,285 on his kitchen and £1,500 on his living room at taxpayers' expense.

At the 2005 general election, Davies lost his seat to the Conservative candidate Andrew Pelling, coming second with 40.6% of the vote.

MP for Swansea West
Davies was elected to Parliament at the 2010 general election as MP for Swansea West with 34.7% of the vote and a majority of 504.

Following publicity of Davies' Bill in September 2014 to criminalise the distribution of sexually explicit images without consent on the internet (known as revenge porn), the offence of "disclosing private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress" was enacted as section 33 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015.

The WIkipedia article about Davies was one of a number edited ahead of the 2015 general election by computers inside Parliament, an act which the Daily Telegraph reported "appears to be a deliberate attempt to hide embarrassing information from the electorate". In Davies's case, the information deleted related to his expenses.

At the 2015 general election, Davies was re-elected as MP for Swansea West with an increased vote share of 42.6% and an increased majority of 7,036.

In December 2015, Davies published his Fracking (Measurement and Regulation of Impacts) (Air, Water and Greenhouse Gas Emissions) Bill, calling for strict limits on water contamination and fugitive methane emissions.

Sixty years after the Clean Air Act, Davies introduced the Clean Air Bill in September 2016 to curb emissions and develop sustainable transport systems by road, rail air and sea. This included air quality targets, vehicle testing reflecting on-road conditions, air pollution measurement and warnings, powers to restrict and ban diesel vehicles in urban centres, a national infrastructure of electric and hydrogen filling points and a fiscal strategy to incentivise consumers and producers towards cleaner vehicles. The latest version of Davies' Clean Air Bill was published in October, 2023.

At the snap 2017 general election, Davies was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 59.8% and an increased majority of 10,598.

Davies favoured a second referendum over Brexit. In August 2018, Davies wrote:

"To make Jeremy Corbyn prime minister next year, Labour must back a public vote on the EU deal. The alternative is no deal, which would trigger a hard Brexit inflicted by a right-wing Tory prime minister between 2019 and 2022. (...) The chaos of a no-deal Brexit – with food and medicine shortages – will require emergency measures to keep lorries and planes moving. Shrinking economic activity and trade will require a squeeze on "expensive" environmental standards and rights at work. So, soon we may all be flying on board Jacob Rees-Mogg's time machine back to Charles Dickens' Britain."

In the series of Parliamentary votes on Brexit in March 2019, Davies voted against the Labour Party whip and in favour of an amendment tabled by members of The Independent Group for a second public vote.

Davies was again re-elected at the 2019 general election, with a decreased vote share of 51.6% and a decreased majority of 8,116.

In November 2021, The Independent revealed that Davies is one of 16 MPs who claimed expenses to cover their residential rent payments despite letting out their own properties in London. In Davies' case, he claimed £67,000 in taxpayer funding to rent a home between November 2017 and April 2021 while collecting rental payments from a home he owns in the capital.

Party suspension
On 1 June 2023, Davies was suspended from the Labour Party after five women accused him of sexual harassment. Politico Europe reported, based on interviews with those who had worked with Davies, that he had a reputation of "excessive drinking, sexual comments and unwanted touching" toward "younger women in the workplace". Two of his colleagues claimed Davies had "boasted" about bringing sex workers into parliament for drinks.

The next day, the Labour Party received a second formal complaint regarding Davies' conduct. On 5 June, a third formal complaint was made against Davies according to Sky News.

Retirement
On 28 May 2024, Davies announced that he would step down as an MP at the 2024 general election.