1. Denzil Davies served for 35 years as the Member of Parliament for Llanelli from 1970 to 2005.
13 Facts About Denzil Davies
1. 2.
Denzil Davies was a Treasury Minister ; a member of Labour's Shadow Cabinet team ; and a member of the Privy Council.
3.
The son of a colliery blacksmith, Denzil Davies was born and brought up in Cynwyl Elfed, in rural Carmarthenshire.
4.
From his childhood in this Welsh-speaking area, Davies spoke Welsh fluently.
5.
Denzil Davies lectured in Law at the University of Chicago in 1963 and the University of Leeds from 1964.
6.
Denzil Davies practised at the tax bar between 1967 and 1975.
7.
Denzil Davies unsuccessfully sought the Labour nomination for the 1966 Carmarthen by-election, losing out to Gwilym Prys-Denzil Davies.
8.
Denzil Davies was elected in the 1970 general election as the Member of Parliament for Llanelli, following Jim Griffiths.
9.
Denzil Davies was a supporter of Welsh devolution in the 1979 Referendum.
10.
Denzil Davies served in a number of posts when Labour formed the Official Opposition after the election of Margaret Thatcher in 1979, including Shadow Secretary of State for Wales in Michael Foot's Shadow Cabinet and Shadow Secretary of State for Defence in Neil Kinnock's.
11.
Denzil Davies made an unsuccessful bid for the Labour Party deputy leadership in 1983.
12.
Denzil Davies was one of the few Labour MPs with ministerial experience at the time of the 1997 landslide that returned the party to power after 18 years in opposition.
13.
Denzil Davies stood down at the 2005 general election, and was succeeded by Nia Griffith.