Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/S. O. Davies

S. O. Davies

 * This is the archived discussion of the TFAR nomination for the article below. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests). Please do not modify this page. 

The result was: scheduled for Today's featured article/October 21, 2016 by — Chris Woodrich (talk) 23:42, 6 October 2016 (UTC)



Stephen Owen Davies (birth date uncertain, died 25 February 1972) was a Welsh coal miner and Labour Party politician  who was Member of Parliament (MP) for Merthyr Tydfil from 1934 to 1972. In 1918 he became miners' agent for the Dowlais district of the South Wales Miners' Federation (SWMF), and in 1924 was appointed SWMF's chief organiser, legal adviser, and  vice-president. Elected to parliament in 1934, Davies consistently defied official Labour policy to champion causes such as disarmament and Welsh nationalism,  with a persistence that brought him several suspensions and  ensured that he was never offered ministerial office. In 1966, after an unstable colliery spoil tip within his constituency collapsed on the village of Aberfan with the loss of 144 lives, Davies controversially stated that he had long thought that the tip was unsafe. He had not reported his suspicions for fear that an enquiry would cause the closures of local pits. In 1970 he was deselected as parliamentary candidate by his local party association on account of his age, but won the seat in the 1970 general election as an Independent, a rare example in British politics of an independent candidate defeating a major party's organisation.
 * Most recent similar article(s): Horatio Bottomley 17 September 2016
 * Main editors: Brianboulton
 * Promoted: 6 May 2016
 * Reasons for nomination: Date is 50th anniversary of the Aberfan landslip disaster which killed 144 people. Davies, the local MP, was much involved in the contentious aftermath to the tragedy. There is no other FA available to mark this anniversary.
 * Support as nominator. Brianboulton (talk) 10:48, 5 October 2016 (UTC)