His father John (1932–1970), a solicitor, died when Davey was four years old in Mansfield General Hospital after a three-month illness.[13] His mother, Nina Davey (née Stanbrook), died 11 years later, after which he was brought up by his maternal grandparents in
Eakring.[14]
Davey was in both the 90th Nottingham scout group[15] and the 17th Nottingham
Air Scout group.[16] He sang in the local church choir, St John's.[17] Like his two brothers, Davey received the Duke of Edinburgh gold award, meeting Prince Philip on 2 March 1984 when the Prince visited his school, the private
Nottingham High School, where Davey was head boy.[18] He took A-levels in German, French and History.[19] One of his two brothers attended
Trent Polytechnic, becoming a solicitor.[20]
In 1998, he was the primary sponsor of an
early day motion supporting the repeal of the
Greenwich judgment, which prevents local authorities from giving their own residents priority access to school places.[26]
In January 2003, Davey publicly backed local constituent and
NHSwhistleblower Ian Perkin, who alleged he had been sacked from his director of finance role for exposing statistics manipulation at
St George's NHS healthcare trust.[30][31] Davey condemned the NHS bureaucracy as "
Stalinist" and called for an inquiry into Perkin's case,[32][33] while personally meeting trust executives to discuss the case on behalf of Perkin.[34]
In February 2003, Davey introduced the clause which repealed the prohibition of "promotion of homosexuality" under
Section 28 of the
Local Government Act 1988.[35] The legislation was repealed in March.[36] He was one of the contributors to The Orange Book (2004).[24]
In 2006, Davey was one of eight Liberal Democrat MPs, including
Jeremy Browne and
Mark Oaten, who opposed a total ban on smoking in clubs and pubs.[37] He called the ban "a bit too nanny state".[38][39]
In an article for the Financial Times in 2007, Davey and
LSE economist
Tim Leunig proposed a new system of community land auctions through
sealed bids, to take place before the land was given
planning permission. They suggested that councils could take in tax the difference between the land owner's
asking price and the highest bidder's offer, claiming this would stimulate
development and the revenue then used to lower other taxation.[40][41]
Lib Dem spokesperson
Following Davey's election to parliament in 1997, he was appointed as the LibDem's spokesman on
Treasury Affairs. He added the post of
whip in 1998, and as the spokesman on London from 2000.
Davey was re-elected in the
2001 general election, increasing his share of the vote from 36.7% to 60.2%. He increased his majority from just 56 to 15,676, beating former Conservative MP
David Shaw. He joined the Liberal Democrat frontbench under Leader
Charles Kennedy in the same year when he was appointed the party's spokesperson for
Treasury matters. In 2002, he became the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for the
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. He was appointed spokesperson for
Education and Skills in 2005, before becoming spokesperson for
Trade and Industry in March 2006. In December 2006, he succeeded
Norman Lamb as Chief of Staff to
Menzies Campbell, the new party leader.[24] Davey was chair of the party's Campaigns and Communications Committee. Following
Nick Clegg's election as Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Davey was awarded the Foreign Affairs brief, and continued to retain his chairmanship of the party's Campaigns and Communications Committee.[14]
At the 2009 Liberal Democrat conference, Davey caused controversy by calling for dialogue with the
Taliban, through declaring that it was "time for tea with the Taliban",[43] a comment echoed by
Malala Yousafzai four years later to the BBC.[44]
Ministerial career (2010–2015)
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business (2010–2012)
In January 2011, he faced protests by
postal workers in his Kingston and Surbiton constituency for his role in the privatisation of
Royal Mail.[60] Also in 2011, Davey announced several reforms to the
labour market, mainly aimed at improving
labour market flexibility. These reforms included cuts to
red tape and easing dismissal laws, and were accompanied by reviews from the
Institute of Economic Affairs into compensation payments and the
TUPE. Davey also announced that the government would abolish the default retirement age.[61][62][63][64]
As Minister for Postal Affairs, Davey did not investigate the details of the
Horizon Post Office scandal that had led to the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of sub-postmasters. He was, however, the only Post Office minister to meet
Alan Bates, the founder of the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance, with this meeting taking place in October 2010.[65][66][67] Following criticism in 2024, Davey expressed regret and said that he had been misled by
Post Office officials.[68][69] Following
Paula Vennells's decision to hand back her
CBE over her role during the scandal, Davey came under pressure to return his knighthood because of his role during it.[70] However, Davey said he was "completely surprised" as to why the Conservative Party had awarded Vennells a CBE in 2019.[65]
Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (2012–2015)
In 2013, Davey set up the Green Growth Group, bringing together environmental and climate ministers from across the
European Union in an effort to promote growth, investment in renewable and
nuclear energy, liberalisation of the European energy market, a global
carbon market, trade in energy,
carbon capture technology,
energy efficiency, and competition.[55][73][74][75][76][77] Domestically, Davey focused on increasing competition in the energy market by removing
barriers to entry for smaller companies, and streamlining the
customer switching process, declaring in 2013 that "competition works".[78][79] Abroad, Davey promoted investment in the British energy sector by foreign companies from countries such as
Japan,
South Korea, and
China, making significant diplomatic trips to the latter two countries in order to highlight investment opportunities.[80][81][82][83]
In October 2013, during a BBC Newsnight segment on energy bills, Davey was asked by BBC presenter
Jeremy Paxman whether or not he wore a
jumper (to stay warm) at home, to which Davey replied that he did but stressed that competition and energy efficiency were the solutions to lowering energy bills. The following day, various media outlets reported that Davey had advised for people to wear jumpers at home to save on energy bills, although he had not. The controversy then spread when Prime Minister
David Cameron's official spokesman told a reporter that people may wish to "consider" advice by charities to wrap up warmly, leading to media outlets reporting that
Number 10 was also suggesting wearing jumpers to cut energy bills, with the supposed suggestion being seized upon by the opposition Labour Party. Number 10 later issued a statement rebutting the media reports.[84][85][86][87][88][89][90][91] In April 2014, Davey called for the
G7 to begin reduction of dependency on
Russian energy following the
Revolution of Dignity and commencement of the
Russo-Ukrainian War.[92] Davey argued the benefits of investment in
onshore wind energy from companies such as
Siemens was a key part of the push to reduce dependence on Russian energy,[93] while "more diversified supplies of gas" including
from the US and domestic
shale gas would also help.[94] In May 2014 at a meeting in Rome, G7 energy ministers including Davey agreed formally to a process for reducing dependency on Russian energy; "Putin has crossed a line", Davey declared.[95]
Throughout and after the
Cameron–Clegg coalition, Davey's ministerial career came under scrutiny from political figures and the media. On the right, Conservatives
Nigel Lawson and
Peter Lilley were critical of Davey's environmental stances,[96][97] and he was lampooned by The Telegraph sketch writer
Michael Deacon.[98] He was also criticised by left-wing figures such as
Green MP for
Brighton PavilionCaroline Lucas over his support of
fracking,[99] and by the Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the
Labour PartyEd Miliband for Davey's warning that Labour's price control policy would cause
blackouts.[100] Luxembourgish MEP and environmentalist
Claude Turmes alleged in his 2017 book Energy Transformation that Davey's Green Growth Group was actually a front for British nuclear interests.[74] Conversely, Davey's promotion to the role of Energy Secretary was hailed by The Economist, which viewed him favourably as a "pragmatic" and "
free market liberal".[101] In "The Liberal Democrats and supply-side economics", published in an issue of the
Institute of Economic Affairs' Economic Affairs journal, Davey was identified as the Liberal Democrat who had achieved the most in terms of
supply-side reforms.[102] Conservative MP and former
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister of State for Government Policy
Sir Oliver Letwin credited Davey and his "like-minded" group of economically liberal governments as having helped to curb regulatory enthusiasm within the European Union.[56]
Leading up to the
2015 general election, Davey was viewed by various sources as a potential successor to Liberal Democrat leader
Nick Clegg.[103][104][105][106] Political commentator
Gary Gibbon speculated that due to Davey's association with the Orange Book wing of the party, the tenuousness of
Danny Alexander's parliamentary seat, and
David Laws' unwillingness, the role of "heir" would naturally fall to Davey.[107][108]
Parliamentary career (2017–present)
2015 general election
At the 2015 general election, Davey was defeated by
Conservative candidate
James Berry by 2,834 votes after the Liberal Democrat vote fell by over 15% in
Kingston and Surbiton. This made him the first cabinet minister to lose their seat since
Michael Portillo in 1997.[109] Davey later told reporters he was "obviously disappointed" with his defeat, but said it had not been a total shock. "We knew it would be close – we had it written on our leaflets. But I don't think the voters did, he said. "When I was out canvassing today I had a man said to me: 'You'll be fine, Ed'. I wish I had a vote for all the people who told me I would be fine. The party is clearly paying some price for going into coalition with the Conservatives. We put the national interest above the party interest which was the right thing to do at the time. I have no regrets on that. I think we are seeing a national thing here. We have had a very bad night nationally."[110]
He is the Chair of the All-Party Britain-Republic of Korea
Parliamentary Group (APPG).[115] He is also the Chair of the APPG on Charity Retail, the Vice Chair of the APPG for the
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, and the Vice Chair of the APPG on Land Value Capture.[116][117][118]
Leader of the Liberal Democrats (2019–present)
2019 leadership bid
Following the
2019 European Parliament election, Liberal Democrat leader Sir
Vince Cable announced his intention "to hand over a bigger, stronger party" to a new leader, triggering a
party leadership contest.[119] Davey announced his candidacy for the role on 30 May, stating his belief that action must be taken in Parliament to prevent a
"no deal" Brexit, and highlighting his support for stronger action to limit
global warming.[120][121] Davey lost this race to
Jo Swinson, with 36.9% of the vote to Swinson's 63.1%.[122] On 3 September 2019, Davey was elected as Swinson's deputy leader.[123][124]
2019 general election and acting co-leadership
Following Jo Swinson's resignation as a result of losing her seat in
the 2019 general election, Davey became interim co-leader alongside the party president (at first Baroness Brinton, and then Mark Pack).
In June 2020, whilst acting leader, Davey launched his bid to become leader saying that his "experience as a carer can help rebuild Britain after coronavirus".[125] He proposed the establishment of a
basic income to support carers, and said that the Liberal Democrats should be "the party of social care".[56][126][127] Davey ruled out a formal electoral agreement with the Labour Party, but said that he would prioritise defeating the Conservatives, and ruled out working with the Conservatives following the next election.[56][128] He proposed a plan to reduce
carbon emissions from domestic flights to zero by 2030 through investment in research and technology.[129] In a hustings event with Welsh members, he said that the
2021 Senedd election was a priority and he expected success for the Liberal Democrats.[74]
Davey was one of two candidates running for leader in the Liberal Democrats leadership election, competing with
Layla Moran. One recurring theme of the leadership campaign was Davey's record in the
Cameron-Clegg coalition government, and the policies that government had enacted. Moran is considered to be more left-wing than Davey and representing a break from the coalition years.[130][131] Alongside former leader
Nick Clegg and many of the Liberal Democrats who served in the governing
Conservative-Lib Dem coalition of 2010–2015, Davey is associated with the party's right-wing
Orange Booker branch. The record of the coalition, which caused a decline in popularity of the Liberal Democrats after 2015, has been defended by Davey.[132]
On 27 August, Davey won the leadership election with 42,756 votes, which translated to 63.5% of total votes. In his victory speech, Davey said that the Liberal Democrats must "wake up and smell the coffee" and "start listening" to ordinary people and those who "don't believe we share their values". He also stressed his experience in the
coalition government, and his commitments to tackle
climate change. Moran later congratulated Davey on
Twitter, saying "I look forward to working with him to campaign for a better future for Britain."[133][134]
Views
Davey identifies as a
liberal politically, telling the Total Politics magazine: "I personally think liberalism is the strongest political philosophy in the modern world.
Socialism has failed. I think even
social democracy, the watered down version which Labour sort of understand depending on which day of the week it is, is not very convincing, and I don't really understand where the Conservatives are coming from because they have so many philosophies within one party. There's no philosophy of the modern Conservative Party."[135] He has said that he believes "in the
free market and in
competition",[136] and during a parliamentary
public bill committee debate in November 2010 argued in defence of
privatisation,
deregulation, and the
private sector against Labour MP
Gregg McClymont.[137]
Davey also describes himself as a "strong free-trader", rejecting reciprocity in trade tariffs as "the classic protectionist argument". He believes Britain should be open to foreign investment, except for investment tainted by "smells that you have from Putin."[138] He dismisses worries over foreign ownership and investment in the British economy such as that of French and
Chinese companies' involvement in the British energy market.[139][138] Davey describes himself as "an
economist by trade."[140]
He was a supporter of the
coalition government, writing in a 2011 column for London newspaper Get West London that the coalition would "restore
liberty to the people" and that "Labour's
nanny state will be cut back" in reference to the coalition's policies on civil liberties.[141] In 2012, Davey predicted the coalition government would be more
pro-European Union than
Tony Blair's Labour government, praising Conservative ministers and the then Prime Minister
David Cameron for relations they had developed with European counterparts.[142] Retrospectively, Davey said of the coalition in 2017: "I think the coalition government, when history looks at it, will go down as actually a pretty good government."[143] In 2017, Davey warned against a Conservative Party proposal for fines on large internet companies who fail to remove extremist and terrorist material from their platforms within 24 hours, which he claimed could lead to censorship if companies are forced to rush to remove such material and pointed to Germany as an example of where this approach has the potential to lead to censorship.[144] He thinks
technology giants must not be treated as the "enemy" and accused the Conservatives of declaring an "all-out war" on the internet.[144] Similarly he is critical of Conservative proposals to weaken
encryption because, according to Davey, encryption is important for individual security and helping businesses to thrive.[145]
In 2018, after the government's
Investigatory Powers Act mass surveillance law was declared to be in breach of EU law, Davey commented that UK surveillance needed a "major overhaul" which puts "our freedoms and civil liberties at its very core" (Davey's party opposes the mass surveillance law and had voted against it).[146][147] Since the 2000s, Davey has been vocal on the issue of
detention without trial, in particular
Guantanamo and
Bagram, which he believed required transparency and formal investigation of
torture allegations.[148][149][150] He has opposed indefinite detention for illegal immigrants.[151]
Davey supports a ceasefire in the
2023 Israel–Hamas war, saying that "it is increasingly clear that a military solution to eliminate
Hamas is not possible. With a devastating humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, an ongoing hostage situation, and growing risk of regional escalation, we must urgently demand a different approach."[152]
Davey is supportive of
market solutions in the conventional energy sector, The Guardian describing him as a 'zealot' for markets. He has been highly critical of
price controls such as those proposed by former Labour leader
Ed Miliband; he considers them to be detrimental to
competition and lowering prices for consumers.[153][138] He has promoted removal of
barriers to entry to encourage new entrants into the energy market; "We began with
deregulation. This stimulated a doubling of smaller firms" he wrote of his policy as Energy Secretary in 2014.[78][154] Additionally, he welcomed the rise of
consumer switching websites.[78] He has also been in support of trade to import
natural gas from countries including the
USA and
Qatar,[155][156] and importation of green energy via new
interconnectors from
Norway and
Ireland.[157][158][159] He has, however, supported "properly designed and carefully targeted" short-term subsidies for some emerging
green energy technologies in order to meet climate change targets.[160]
When cutting green
energy subsidies as Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Davey said he "tended to try and marketise the reduction so people were competing for any remaining subsidies" through
Contracts for difference (CfDs).[161] After leaving the office of Energy Secretary in 2015 he explained that he had planned to "eliminate subsidies over the coming years"[162] and had previously stated, "ultimately I don't want the government—the Secretary of State—to decide what that
low carbon mix is . . . I want the markets and technology development and innovation to decide what that mix is."[138]
He has argued in favour of both
nuclear power and
fracking as potential energy sources,[163][164] and natural gases as
transitional fuels,[165] though he has warned that there should not be an over-reliance on them.[166][167] Davey has previously argued against nuclear power but in 2013 he urged fellow Lib Dem members to support nuclear power, stating, "I've changed my mind because of
climate change."[168]
Davey does not support the United Kingdom rejoining the European Union in the short term, in 2020 stating that the idea that people would want to consider re-joining the EU in two or three years time as "being for the birds".[169][170] In January 2021 he clarified this position, stating that he is "determined the Liberal Democrats remain a pro-European party committed to the UK being members of the European Union again", adding that his party is "practical" about the matter.[171]
Following the
murder of Sarah Everard, Davey said that "Men have got to change" and suggested that we "educate boys and men to show more respect".[172] In May 2021, alongside celebrities and other public figures, Davey was a signatory to an open letter from
Stylist magazine which called on the government to address what it described as an "epidemic of male violence" by funding an "ongoing, high-profile, expert-informed awareness campaign on men's violence against women and girls".[173]
A supporter of trans rights, Davey believes that
trans women should be given the same rights as biological women, which he made clear in a series of interviews on the day that a report into violence against women, commissioned in the wake of the Everard affair, was published.[174][175][176]
Davey criticised
Boris Johnson after the
North Shropshireby-election where a Lib Dem candidate,
Helen Morgan overturned a Conservative majority of nearly 23,000 to win the seat. Davey said it was a "watershed moment in our politics. Millions of people are fed up with
Boris Johnson and his failure to provide leadership throughout the pandemic and last night the voters of North Shropshire spoke for all of them."[177] Davey criticised Johnson further in May 2022 saying, "
Boris Johnson is not fit to lead the country and he needs to go. At this time of national crisis, we can't afford to have a law-breaking prime minister."[178]
Mongoose Energy appointed Davey as chairman in September 2015.[179][180]
Davey set up an independent consultancy in September 2015 to provide advice on energy and climate change.[179]
In January 2016 Davey was appointed as a part-time consultant to
MHP Communications, the public relations and lobbying firm representing
EDF Energy.[179] Davey was criticised by
press commentators for the potential conflict of interest between his previous role as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change and his role at MHP. As Secretary of State Davey awarded EDF the contract to build a
new nuclear plant at Hinkley Point in Somerset.[181][182]
Davey's appointment as Global Partner and non-Executive director of private equity investor Nord Engine Capital was announced in February 2016.[179][183]
In July 2016 he became non-paid patron of the Sustainable Futures Foundation, a charity promoting environmental sustainability for the public benefit.[179]
In the summer of 2005 Davey married Emily Gasson, who was the Liberal Democrat candidate for
North Dorset at the
general election that year. Their first child, John, was born in December 2007. Their son has speech difficulties, spurring Davey's interest in
speech therapy.[185] They live in
Surbiton, London, where Davey lived before his election to Parliament in 1997. Emily fought the North Dorset seat again in 2010, and also had the number two position on the Lib Dem London-wide candidate list for the
2016 London Assembly elections,[186] but was not elected. In 2018, Emily stood for election as a councillor for the three-seat Norbiton Ward in 2018, part of the
Royal Borough of Kingston Council, and topped the poll with 20% of the vote.[187]
^Ashley, Jackie (20 September 2004).
"Profile: Ed Davey".
Archived from the original on 22 July 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2019 – via www.theguardian.com.
^
abcdLetwin, Oliver (2017). Hearts and minds : the battle for the Conservative Party from Thatcher to the present. London. p. 176.
ISBN9781785903113.
OCLC994417960.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link)