John Davies (British businessman)
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (December 2021) |
Minister of Technology | |
---|---|
In office 28 July 1970 – 15 October 1970 | |
Prime Minister | Ted Heath |
Preceded by | Geoffrey Rippon |
Succeeded by | Position abolished |
Director of the Confederation of British Industry | |
In office 30 July 1965 – 15 October 1969 | |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Campbell Adamson |
Member of Parliament for Knutsford | |
In office 18 June 1970 – 6 November 1978 | |
Preceded by | Walter Bromley-Davenport |
Succeeded by | Jock Bruce-Gardyne |
Personal details | |
Born | John Emerson Harding Harding-Davies 8 January 1916 London, England |
Died | 4 July 1979 London, England | (aged 63)
Political party | Conservative |
Spouse |
Vera Bates (m. 1943) |
Children | 2, including Frank |
Education | St Edward's School, Oxford |
Profession | Businessman |
John Emerson Harding Harding-Davies,
Family and early life
Davies was born in
Business career
He joined the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company as an accountant in the marketing division. He qualified as a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in 1949. Davies worked for the company in London, Stockholm and Paris; the company renamed as British Petroleum in 1954. In 1956, Davies was promoted to be General Manager (Markets) for BP, and in 1960 he was Director of BP Trading.
The next year, Davies was appointed as Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of
CBI Director-General
The Federation merged with British Employers' Federation and the National Association of British Manufacturers in 1965 to form the
Davies surprised some, such as
However Davies was a Conservative by instinct and after the devaluation of the Pound sterling in November 1967, he became much more critical of the government. Increasingly he would lambast Labour ministers on television, although he continued to work together with Ministers in private. Davies handed over the title of Director-General to Campbell Adamson in 1969.
Political career
In 1969, Davies was recruited by Edward Heath to join his government once he won the next election. Heath was looking to lead a 'businesslike' government and believed that senior business figures serving in senior posts would provide more expert management. Davies began to be more quotably critical, describing the "solemn and binding" accord between the government and the TUC (after the failure of In Place of Strife) as useful only in the lavatory.
He failed to win the selection for the Conservative nomination at the Louth byelection of 1969, and for Cities of London and Westminster for the general election. However, with Central Office support, Davies was found a seat at Knutsford in Cheshire, which he easily won in the general election on 18 June 1970.
Trade and Industry
That October, Davies was promoted to be
"We believe that the essential need of the country is to gear its policies to the great majority of people, who are not 'lame ducks', who do not need a hand, who are quite capable of looking after their own interests and only demand to be allowed to do so." (Hansard, 5th Series, volume 805, column 1211)
The term "lame ducks" became associated with Davies. However, when Rolls-Royce (a vital defence contractor) ran into financial difficulties early in 1971, it was decided that the government should help by bailing it out. When nugatory efforts did not help, the company was nationalised to prevent it from going bankrupt.
In June 1971, the
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Davies moved sideways to become
Opposition
After Heath left office in 1974, Davies retained his Parliamentary seat but was not given a post in the
Davies was nominated by the Conservative Party as a European Commissioner for the term beginning in 1977, but was unacceptable to the Labour government. However, in November 1976 Margaret Thatcher decided to sack Reginald Maudling as Shadow Foreign Secretary and appointed Davies to replace him. Thatcher's memoirs give praise for the effectiveness of Davies' work in the role.
Davies was not a strong supporter of monetarism, although he did agree with Thatcher's view on Soviet expansionism. The major disagreement within the Conservative Party was over Rhodesia and whether to continue sanctions on the government of Ian Smith: Davies believed that Smith was not entirely committed to a negotiated peace and therefore that sanctions should be maintained.
Illness and death
Davies was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour in 1978 and swiftly stood down from the Shadow Cabinet and from Parliament. Davies was granted the position of
References
- ^ "Peerage Law", R. P. Gadd, ISCA Publishing, Bristol, at page 86
- Appendix One, The Biographical Dictionary of Life Peers by St Martin's Press, 1991)
- The Path to Power by Margaret Thatcher (HarperCollins, 1995)
- John Emerson Harding Davies by Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004)