Topic: Philip Davies

Philip Andrew Davies (born 5 January 1972) is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Shipley in West Yorkshire.

Born in Doncaster, he was educated at the Old Swinford Hospital School, Stourbridge, and the University of Huddersfield where he was awarded a 2.1BA Hons degree in History and Political Studies in 1993. He joined the Conservative Party in 1988. He became the manager of Marilyn Davies Bookmakers in 1990, and a cashier with Mark Jarvis Bookmakers in 1992 for a year until he became a manager at the Jack Pearson Bookmakers. In 1993 he was employed by Asda initially as a cashier, before commencing training as a customer services manager in 1995, becoming a deputy customer service manager in 1997, later in the same year he was appointed as a Customer Relations Project Manager. Finally, in 1999 he became the customer services project manager in Leeds, he left ASDA on his election to Westminster.

He unsuccessfully contested the parliamentary seat of Colne Valley at the 2001 General Election and was defeated by the sitting Labour MP Kali Mountford by 4,639 votes. He was elected as an MP at the 2005 General Election for the seat of Shipley, removing the sitting Labour MP and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Constitutional Affairs Christopher Leslie. Philip Davies was elected with a majority of just 422 votes and remains the MP there. He made his maiden speech on 7 June 2005, where he remembered Titus Salt and the UNESCO World Heritage Site in Saltaire. He also announced that he wanted to remain a backbencher and not to be a shadow spokesman or a minister, and that he wanted to feel able to speak for his constituents.