Terry Davis
Encyclopedia
Terence Anthony Gordon Davis CMG
PC
(born 5 January 1938), known as Terry Davis, is a British
Labour Party
politician, and former Member of Parliament
(MP) for the Birmingham Hodge Hill constituency, and former Secretary General of the Council of Europe
. He is a member of the Privy Council
.
.
Davis is a graduate of University College London
, where he gained an LLB
degree in 1962, and University of Michigan
's Ross School of Business
, where he gained an MBA
degree in 1962. He was a company executive from 1962-71 for Esso
, Clarks shoes
and Chrysler Parts
. From 1974 to 1979, he was a Manager in the motor industry, with Leyland Cars.
, Davis stood unsuccessfully in the Conservative
-held Bromsgrove constituency
. However, the sitting MP, James Dance
, died the following year, and Davis won the resulting by-election
.
The Bromsgrove constituency was abolished in boundary changes for the February 1974 general election
, and in the new Bromsgrove and Redditch constituency
, Davis lost to the Conservative Hal Miller
. He stood again at the October 1974 general election
and lost again.
In 1977, Birmingham Stechford Labour MP, Roy Jenkins
, was appointed as President of the European Commission
, and Davis was selected as the Labour candidate in the by-election
. He lost by 1,949 votes to the Conservative Andrew MacKay, but at the 1979 general election
, he won the seat with a majority of 1,649.
The Stechford constituency was abolished in boundary changes for the 1983 general election
, and Davis was re-elected in the successor constituency of Birmingham Hodge Hill. He held that seat until his retirement from the House of Commons 21 years later.
In June 2004 he was elected Secretary General of the Council of Europe
and announced his intention to stand down from the UK parliament, by applying for the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds
. The resulting by-election was held on 15 July and won by Labour's Liam Byrne
. He left the Council of Europe on 31 August 2009. He was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2010 New Year Honours.
Wikileaks "cablegate" revelations disclosed that the US, unhappy about his criticisms of the US's rendition program, regarded him as an "unpopular lame duck".
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
PC
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
(born 5 January 1938), known as Terry Davis, is a British
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, and former 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 the Birmingham Hodge Hill constituency, and former Secretary General of the Council of Europe
Secretary General of the Council of Europe
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe is appointed by the Parliamentary Assembly on the recommendation of the Committee of Ministers for a period of five years...
. He is a member of the Privy Council
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
.
Early life
He went to the King Edward VI Grammar School (now the King Edward VI College) in StourbridgeStourbridge
Stourbridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands of England. Historically part of Worcestershire, Stourbridge was a centre of glass making, and today includes the suburbs of Amblecote, Lye, Norton, Oldswinford, Pedmore, Wollaston, Wollescote and Wordsley The...
.
Davis is a graduate of University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
, where he gained an LLB
Bachelor of Laws
The Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...
degree in 1962, and University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
's Ross School of Business
Ross School of Business
The Stephen M. Ross School of Business is the business school of the University of Michigan. Numerous publications have ranked the Ross School of Business' Bachelor of Business Administration , Master of Business Administration and Executive Education programs among the top in the country and the...
, where he gained an MBA
Master of Business Administration
The Master of Business Administration is a :master's degree in business administration, which attracts people from a wide range of academic disciplines. The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging from the late 19th century as the country industrialized and companies sought out...
degree in 1962. He was a company executive from 1962-71 for Esso
Esso
Esso is an international trade name for ExxonMobil and its related companies. Pronounced , it is derived from the initials of the pre-1911 Standard Oil, and as such became the focus of much litigation and regulatory restriction in the United States. In 1972, it was largely replaced in the U.S. by...
, Clarks shoes
C&J Clark
C. and J. Clark International Ltd, trading as Clarks, is a British, international shoe manufacturer and retailer based in Street, Somerset, England...
and Chrysler Parts
Hillman
Hillman is a British automobile marque created by the Hillman Motor Car Company, founded in 1907. The company was based in Ryton-on-Dunsmore, near Coventry, England. Before 1907 the company had built bicycles...
. From 1974 to 1979, he was a Manager in the motor industry, with Leyland Cars.
Parliamentary career
At the 1970 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1970
The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on 18 June 1970, and resulted in a surprise victory for the Conservative Party under leader Edward Heath, who defeated the Labour Party under Harold Wilson. The election also saw the Liberal Party and its new leader Jeremy Thorpe lose half their...
, Davis stood unsuccessfully in the Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
-held Bromsgrove constituency
Bromsgrove (UK Parliament constituency)
Bromsgrove is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post voting system...
. However, the sitting MP, James Dance
James Dance (politician)
James Cyril Aubrey George Dance was a British Conservative Party politician.He was elected as Member of Parliament for Bromsgrove at the 1955 general election, and held the seat until he died in office in 1971. The resulting by-election was won by the Labour Party's Terry Davis.- External links :...
, died the following year, and Davis won the resulting by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
.
The Bromsgrove constituency was abolished in boundary changes for the February 1974 general election
United Kingdom general election, February 1974
The United Kingdom's general election of February 1974 was held on the 28th of that month. It was the first of two United Kingdom general elections held that year, and the first election since the Second World War not to produce an overall majority in the House of Commons for the winning party,...
, and in the new Bromsgrove and Redditch constituency
Bromsgrove and Redditch (UK Parliament constituency)
Bromsgrove and Redditch was a parliamentary constituency centred on the towns of Bromsgrove and Redditch in Worcestershire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
, Davis lost to the Conservative Hal Miller
Hal Miller
Sir Hilary Duppa "Hal" Miller , known as Hal Miller, is a British Conservative Party politician.Educated at Eton College, Miller graduated from Merton College, Oxford in 1956 and the University of London in 1962...
. He stood again at the October 1974 general election
United Kingdom general election, October 1974
The United Kingdom general election of October 1974 took place on 10 October 1974 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. It was the second general election of that year and resulted in the Labour Party led by Harold Wilson, winning by a tiny majority of 3 seats.The election of...
and lost again.
In 1977, Birmingham Stechford Labour MP, Roy Jenkins
Roy Jenkins
Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead OM, PC was a British politician.The son of a Welsh coal miner who later became a union official and Labour MP, Roy Jenkins served with distinction in World War II. Elected to Parliament as a Labour member in 1948, he served in several major posts in...
, was appointed as President of the European Commission
President of the European Commission
The President of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission ― the executive branch of the :European Union ― the most powerful officeholder in the EU. The President is responsible for allocating portfolios to members of the Commission and can reshuffle or dismiss them if needed...
, and Davis was selected as the Labour candidate in the by-election
Birmingham Stechford by-election, 1977
The Birmingham Stechford by-election, in Birmingham, on 31 March 1977 was held after Labour Member of Parliament Roy Jenkins resigned his seat following his appointment as President of the European Commission. A seat that had been solidly Labour since its formation in 1950, it was won by Andrew...
. He lost by 1,949 votes to the Conservative Andrew MacKay, but at the 1979 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1979
The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with a parliamentary majority of 43 seats...
, he won the seat with a majority of 1,649.
The Stechford constituency was abolished in boundary changes for the 1983 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1983
The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...
, and Davis was re-elected in the successor constituency of Birmingham Hodge Hill. He held that seat until his retirement from the House of Commons 21 years later.
In June 2004 he was elected Secretary General of the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
and announced his intention to stand down from the UK parliament, by applying for the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds
Chiltern Hundreds
Appointment to the office of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the three Chiltern Hundreds of Stoke, Desborough and Burnham is a sinecure appointment which is used as a device allowing a Member of the United Kingdom Parliament to resign his or her seat...
. The resulting by-election was held on 15 July and won by Labour's Liam Byrne
Liam Byrne
Liam Dominic Byrne is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Birmingham Hodge Hill since 2004, and was the Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2009 to 2010 before being appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on 20 January 2011.-Early...
. He left the Council of Europe on 31 August 2009. He was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2010 New Year Honours.
Wikileaks "cablegate" revelations disclosed that the US, unhappy about his criticisms of the US's rendition program, regarded him as an "unpopular lame duck".