Huw Irranca-Davies
Encyclopedia
Ifor Huw Irranca-Davies (born 22 January 1963), born Ifor Huw Davies, is a British
Labour Party
politician
, who has been the Member of Parliament
(MP) for Ogmore
since 2002
. (He adopted his wife's maiden name as part of his own surname when they married.)
Having served as Parliamentary Private Secretary in the Northern Ireland Office
, the Department for Work and Pensions
, and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, he became an Assistant Whip
in May 2006. On 29 June 2007, he was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
for Wales, before being promoted to the role of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
in the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
, MP for Gower and deputy to Cledwyn Hughes
at the Welsh Office in Harold Wilson's Government.
Davies went to Gowerton Comprehensive School (where his mother was a secretary), and later achieved a BA (Hons) at Crewe and Alsager College, and an MSc from Swansea Metropolitan University.
After leaving higher education he worked for local authorities in leisure management; and it was while he was working in a sports centre and she was doing aerobics that he met his wife, Joanna Irranca, a member of an Italian family who had come to work in south Wales in the 1950s. On marriage the couple both changed their surnames to Irranca-Davies.
Later, Irranca-Davies worked in private sector management, and also spent enjoyable years as a lecturer at Swansea Metropolitan University.
, but finished third, behind the Liberal Democrat and Conservative candidates.
In the by-election of 14 February 2002 he was elected to the parliamentary seat of Ogmore in the South Wales Valleys (a Labour seat since 1918), after the death of MP and Government Whip Sir Ray Powell. (Irranca-Davies was himself appointed Government Whip for Wales in May 2006 after spells as a Parliamentary Aide in several government departments.) He was re-elected to serve Ogmore in the general election of May 2005.
Since his election in 2002 Irranca-Davies has worked on a range of local and national issues, including sitting on the Procedures Select Committee to discuss ways of modernising the work of Parliament and has also sat on Standing Committees for the Police Reform Bill, Fireworks Bill and Communications Bill, amongst others.
He sits on the Welsh Grand Committee and the Northern Ireland Grand Committee. In addition, Huw has worked on Parliamentary Labour Party ('PLP') Committees on Welsh Affairs, Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Home Affairs and International Development. He was also the backbench MP representative on the board of the Coal Health Claims Monitoring Subgroup for Wales.
Irranca-Davies has spoken in the House of Commons on topics as varied as international trade union rights, compulsory voting, anti-social behaviour, renewable energy, fair trade, and social justice.
In June 2005 he became Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Tessa Jowell
, having previously served as PPS to Jane Kennedy
at the Northern Ireland Office and also at the Department for Work and Pensions.
In the May 2006 Government reshuffle he was promoted to serve as an Assistant Government Whip until Gordon Brown became Prime Minister.
On 29 June 2007 he was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
for Wales as part of the reshuffle of the incoming new prime minister, Gordon Brown.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, who has been the Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Ogmore
Ogmore (UK Parliament constituency)
Ogmore is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Boundaries :Taking its name from the River Ogmore, the constituency is situated close to the source of the river in the Ogwr valley and excludes the village of Ogmore-by-Sea, which is the...
since 2002
Ogmore by-election, 2002
The Member of Parliament for Ogmore in Mid Glamorgan, Sir Raymond Powell, of the Labour Party died on 7 December 2001.The by-election to fill his seat was held on 14 February 2002. Labour faced no realistic challenge in this very safe seat and retained it easily, with only Plaid Cymru making...
. (He adopted his wife's maiden name as part of his own surname when they married.)
Having served as Parliamentary Private Secretary in the Northern Ireland Office
Northern Ireland Office
The Northern Ireland Office is a United Kingdom government department responsible for Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and is based in Northern Ireland at Stormont House.-Role:...
, the Department for Work and Pensions
Department for Work and Pensions
The Department for Work and Pensions is the largest government department in the United Kingdom, created on June 8, 2001 from the merger of the employment part of the Department for Education and Employment and the Department of Social Security and headed by the Secretary of State for Work and...
, and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, he became an Assistant Whip
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
in May 2006. On 29 June 2007, he was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
A Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the government of the United Kingdom, junior to both a Minister of State and a Secretary of State....
for Wales, before being promoted to the role of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
A Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the government of the United Kingdom, junior to both a Minister of State and a Secretary of State....
in the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Early days
Davies was born in 1963, the son of Teresa Davies and Gethin Davies. Some of his earliest memories are of campaigning in General Elections for his uncle, Ifor DaviesIfor Davies
Ifor Davies was a Welsh Labour Party politician.Davies was educated at Gowerton School, Swansea Technical College and Ruskin College, Oxford. He was an industrial personnel officer and served as a councillor on Glamorgan County Council, representing Gowerton 1958-61...
, MP for Gower and deputy to Cledwyn Hughes
Cledwyn Hughes
Cledwyn Hughes, Baron Cledwyn of Penrhos, CH, PC, , was a Welsh Labour politician.Born in Holyhead and educated at the Holyhead Grammar School and at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, he served in the RAFVR in the Second World War. He became a solicitor and a town clerk of Holyhead...
at the Welsh Office in Harold Wilson's Government.
Davies went to Gowerton Comprehensive School (where his mother was a secretary), and later achieved a BA (Hons) at Crewe and Alsager College, and an MSc from Swansea Metropolitan University.
After leaving higher education he worked for local authorities in leisure management; and it was while he was working in a sports centre and she was doing aerobics that he met his wife, Joanna Irranca, a member of an Italian family who had come to work in south Wales in the 1950s. On marriage the couple both changed their surnames to Irranca-Davies.
Later, Irranca-Davies worked in private sector management, and also spent enjoyable years as a lecturer at Swansea Metropolitan University.
Member of Parliament
In 2001 he was Labour candidate for the Brecon & Radnor constituency in 2001United Kingdom general election, 2001
The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...
, but finished third, behind the Liberal Democrat and Conservative candidates.
In the by-election of 14 February 2002 he was elected to the parliamentary seat of Ogmore in the South Wales Valleys (a Labour seat since 1918), after the death of MP and Government Whip Sir Ray Powell. (Irranca-Davies was himself appointed Government Whip for Wales in May 2006 after spells as a Parliamentary Aide in several government departments.) He was re-elected to serve Ogmore in the general election of May 2005.
Since his election in 2002 Irranca-Davies has worked on a range of local and national issues, including sitting on the Procedures Select Committee to discuss ways of modernising the work of Parliament and has also sat on Standing Committees for the Police Reform Bill, Fireworks Bill and Communications Bill, amongst others.
He sits on the Welsh Grand Committee and the Northern Ireland Grand Committee. In addition, Huw has worked on Parliamentary Labour Party ('PLP') Committees on Welsh Affairs, Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Home Affairs and International Development. He was also the backbench MP representative on the board of the Coal Health Claims Monitoring Subgroup for Wales.
Irranca-Davies has spoken in the House of Commons on topics as varied as international trade union rights, compulsory voting, anti-social behaviour, renewable energy, fair trade, and social justice.
In June 2005 he became Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Tessa Jowell
Tessa Jowell
Tessa Jowell is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Dulwich and West Norwood since 1992. Formerly a member of both the Blair and Brown Cabinets, she is currently the Shadow Minister for the Olympics and Shadow Minister for London.-Early life:Tessa Jane...
, having previously served as PPS to Jane Kennedy
Jane Kennedy (politician)
Jane Elizabeth Kennedy is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Liverpool Wavertree from 1992 until she stood down in 2010...
at the Northern Ireland Office and also at the Department for Work and Pensions.
Offices held
Huw Irranca-Davies has held the following positions:- May 2005 – May 2006: Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport
- May 2006 – June 2007: Assistant Government Whip
- June 2007 – October 2008: Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Wales
- October 2008 – May 2010: Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
- October 2008 – June 2009: Natural Environment and Rural Affairs
- June 2009 – May 2010: Marine and Natural Environment
- May 2010 – October 2010: Shadow Minister for Marine and Natural Environment (Shadow Defra Minister)
- October 2010 – present: Shadow Minister for Energy and Climate Change
In the May 2006 Government reshuffle he was promoted to serve as an Assistant Government Whip until Gordon Brown became Prime Minister.
On 29 June 2007 he was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
A Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the government of the United Kingdom, junior to both a Minister of State and a Secretary of State....
for Wales as part of the reshuffle of the incoming new prime minister, Gordon Brown.
External links
- Huw Irranca-Davies MP official constituency website
- Huw Irranca-Davies MP Welsh Labour Party profile
- Huw's Views Channel on YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....