Dr James Davies was the recent Parliamentary Candidate for Clwyd East and was a serving Member of Parliament for the Vale of Clwyd up until dissolution of Parliament, May 2024. In October 2022, he was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the UK Government Wales Office - a position he held until November 2023.
James was born in St Asaph and brought up in Prestatyn.
He represented his home ward in Prestatyn as a town and county councillor for 11 years, before first being elected Member of Parliament for the Vale of Clwyd in 2015. He was re-elected as MP for the Vale of Clwyd in 2019.
James has worked as a doctor within the NHS since 2004 and undertook junior doctor training at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd in Bodelwyddan, before qualifying as a GP. He was a clinical champion for dementia for a number of years. He has been continuing to work as GP during Parliamentary recess and at the Out of Hours service to keep himself up to date with the reality of the NHS locally. This provided an invaluable insight into the full extent of long-term failures within the Labour-run devolved NHS in Wales.
Since being elected to Parliament, James has worked hard to deliver on his priorities for the Vale of Clwyd and has been active in Parliament on behalf of his constituents. During this time, James has:
- Worked with Ministers to increase police numbers in North Wales to their highest level in 15 years, and won Ministerial support for plans for a new police station in Prestatyn.
- Held the Welsh Government to account for its poor handling of the NHS in North Wales, working with colleagues to push for urgent action to address the serious failings in healthcare.
- Been influential in forming Government policy while Parliamentary Private Secretary to Ministers in the Department for Health and Social Care and HM Treasury. He also served on the Conservative Party's backbench 1922 Executive Committee.
- Taken a leading role in advancing the Vale of Clwyd’s bid to the UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund programme, as well as local applications to the Community Ownership Fund, Community Renewal Fund, Shared Prosperity Fund and North Wales Growth Deal.
- Volunteered to help deliver Covid-19 vaccinations during the highly successful vaccine roll-out.
- Was instrumental in the Health Board overturning its plans to downgrade Glan Clwyd neonatal services and instead construct a new Sub-regional Neonatal Intensive Care Centre (SuRNICC).
- Served on the Welsh Affairs Select Committee 2015-17 and the Health and Social Care Select Committee 2015-17 and 2019-21.
- Until being appointed minister, was Chair of the Mersey Dee North Wales All-Party Parliamentary Group and Vice Chair of the APPGs on Obesity, Dementia, ME and Tidy Britain.
- As Minister, he has been instrumental in securing a £1bn+ commitment to the electrification of the North Wales Mainline.
James also enjoys spending time with his young family, local community work, walking, travelling, learning Spanish, and DIY. He is a member of the Royal College of GPs, the National Trust, the Rotary and the Campaign for Real Ale.
James is proud to represent the area he cares about and is hopeful to be returned to Parliament to represent the new seat of Clwyd East and to continue to deliver on local priorities.