Gareth Mark Daviesis a British politician who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Grantham and Bourne.
He was previously the MP for Grantham and Stamford from the 2019 general election until the seat's abolition in 2024.
A member of the Conservative Party, he served as the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury from April 2023 to July 2024.
Political career
Davies worked for the Conservative Party on a voluntary basis before entering Parliament. At the 2010 general election he stood as the Conservative candidate for Doncaster Central, finishing second with 24.8% of the vote. At the snap 2017 general election he stood as the Conservative candidate in Leeds Central, finishing second with 20.5% of the vote behind the incumbent Labour MP Hilary Benn.
Ahead of the 2019 general election, he was selected as the prospective Conservative candidate for Grantham and Stamford. It is a safe Conservative seat, having elected a member of the party since 1997. At the 2019 general election, Davies was elected as MP with 65.7% of the vote and a majority of 26,003, achieving a swing of 5.4% and the largest majority in the seat's history. He made his maiden speech in Parliament in March 2020.
Davies served on the House of Commons Finance Select Committee between 2020 and 2023 and the Treasury Select Committee between 2021 and 2022. Following one session of the Treasury Select Committee in May 2022, Davies garnered media attention when Andrew Bailey, the Governor of the Bank of England, admitted to him that he felt "helpless" in the face of rising inflation.
In 2021, Davies introduced a Private Member's Bill to the Commons, which was entitled the Paternity (Leave and Pay) Bill. The bill was based on a policy report Davies wrote for the Centre for Social Justice. It aimed to extend the eligibility of paternity leave and pay to include more fathers, as well as to provide for more flexibility in the timing of and notice period for paternity leave. However, the bill never progressed beyond its second reading.
Davies was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) at the Department of Health and Social Care. He was later appointed PPS to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, in November 2022.
Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury
Davies was appointed as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in April 2023, following a mini-reshuffle. His responsibilities included UK economic growth, productivity, and investment, which also covered UK infrastructure, the digital economy, economic regulation and foreign direct investment.
Opposition
In the 2024 general election, he was elected in the newly named constituency of Grantham and Bourne with a much reduced majority.
