Ffeil 5/7 - The Labour Party and Devolution

Ron (Ronald) Davies (born 1946) was MP and AM for Caerphilly. He was born in Machen, Monmouthshire, and attended Bassaleg Grammar School, Portsmouth Polytechnic and University College of Wales, Cardiff. He worked as a school teacher and tutor, 1968-1974, and was a further education adviser for Mid-Glamorgan local education authority, 1974-1983. He was a councillor on Bedwas and Machen Urban District Council and Rhymney Valley District Council, 1969-1983, before being elected Labour MP for Caerphilly in 1983. He was opposition whip, 1985-1987, opposition spokesman on agriculture and rural affairs, 1987-1992, and food, 1989-1992, and chief opposition spokesman on agriculture, 1992, and Wales, 1992-1997. Following Labour's General Election victory in 1997 he became Secretary of State for Wales and oversaw the setting up of the National Assembly for Wales. He resigned from the government in 1998 and stepped down as MP in 2001. He was Assembly Member for Caerphilly, 1999-2003. He has been married twice and has two daughters.