Philip Davies

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Philip Davies MP

Philip Andrew Davies (born January 5, 1972) is a British politician. He is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Shipley.

Born in Doncaster he was educated at the Old Swinford Hospital School, Stourbridge, and the University of Huddersfield where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in historical and political studies in 1993. He joined the Conservative Party in 1988. He became the manager of Marilyn Davies Bookmakers in 1990, and a cashier with Mark Jarvis Bookmakers in 1992 for a year until he became a manager at the Jack Pearson Bookmakers. In 1993 he was employed by ASDA initially as a cashier, before commencing training as a customer services manager in 1995, becoming a deputy customer service manager in 1997, later in the same year he was appointed as a Customer Relations Project Manager. Finally, in 1999 he became the customer services project manager in Leeds, he left ASDA on his election to Westminster.

He unsuccessfully contested the parliamentary seat of Colne Valley at the 2001 General Election and was defeated by the sitting Labour MP Kali Mountford by 4,639 votes. He was elected as a MP at the 2005 General Election for the seat of Shipley, removing the sitting Labour MP and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Constitutional Affairs Christopher Leslie. Philip Davies was elected with a majority of just 422 votes and remains the MP there. He made his maiden speech on June 7, 2005, where he remembered Titus Salt and the UNESCO World Heritage Site in Saltaire. He also announced that he wanted to remain a backbencher and not to be a shadow spokesman or a minister, and that he wanted to feel able to speak for his constituents. ^[1]

Davies called for complete withdrawal from the European Union at the Conservative Party Conference in 2005, according to the Yorkshire Post, the first Conservative Party MP in the House of Commons to make such a call. He also supports the Campaign Against Political Correctness in Parliament.

On March 28 2007 the Bradford Telegraph and Argus reported that Davies urged Muslims in the whole country to fly the Union flag on mosques to show their unity and commitment to Britain.^[2]