Latest news with #MimsDavies
Wales Online
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Wales Online
The woman who was called DJ Love Spoon and now has one of Wales' toughest tasks
The woman who was called DJ Love Spoon and now has one of Wales' toughest tasks Mims Davies is a former DJ at a renowned nightclub. Now her job is to rebuild the Conservative Party in Wales Mims Davies MP, shadow secretary of state for Wales, pictured in the Senedd (Image: Mims Davies ) She's the Conservative Party's Welsh representative in Westminster but Suffolk-born Mims Davies' constituency is some 200 miles from Wales' capital city. Yet Byron Davies, the party's chairman, called her an "honorary Welsh girl". Far from the micro-managed answers politicians are accustomed to giving it was in the St David's Day debate in the Commons a few months ago she staked her claim to Wales. She dished out titbits about her nights out in Wind Street in Swansea, how she only left Wales because of her ex-husband's job ("they do say they are exes for a reason"), how a visit to Newport for her passport ended with a tattoo (a butterfly on her foot, one of two she has), and that she had a nickname of DJ Love Spoon. But Mims Davies has a huge and overriding task – to restore faith in a party the electorate in Wales has shown quite clearly it has lost faith in. As the party gets set for its Welsh conference this weekend in Llangollen there is plenty to do. In the 2024 general election all its MPs lost their seats. Some of its senior figures are preparing for a court case about allegedly betting on the date of that election and, to add insult to injury, polls are projecting that their role as the official opposition in the Senedd could be under serious threat. The latest ITV Cymru Wales/Barn/YouGov poll projected that in the new-look 96-seat Senedd they will get just nine seats, placing them fourth in the rankings . You can see that here. She is refreshingly honest as she speaks about her party's prospects, admitting they have lost trust and are at a low base facing multiple threats. She admits that if she does her job well she will have talked herself out of a job because Wales will once again have Welsh Conservative MPs and the pool of people able to be shadow Welsh secretary will vastly increase. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here. Mims Davies' self-confessed love affair with Wales started when she attended the then University of Swansea. Escaping a tough time as a teenager in Sussex she planned to study in Norwich but arriving in Swansea for her interview she was wooed. She met, and later married, a Welshman and describes her children as half-Welsh. Article continues below Mims Davies has been an MP since 2015 (Image: Mims Davies ) While studying here she worked at events at Brangwyn Hall, did work experience at Morriston Hospital's radio station (followed by a job at The Wave), and made money as a DJ at Barons where she got the DJ Love Spoon nickname. Despite being in Wales in the early 1990s she wasn't involved in the devolution campaign – either way – and her journey into politics was when, as a first-time mum, she was angered by the state of the local playground and she went to "nag her local council and then got co-opted onto a parish council". "Coming out as a Tory in Swansea? God no – I wanted friends," she laughed. "I was due to go to Norwich and I ended up at Swansea. I drove up the M4 for the first time – it was the old bridge then but it was the start of a really exciting life for me. It was the city by the sea, the beautiful Mumbles and all of what Gower has to offer, and an amazing nightlife. You would have two buses a week, if you could get anywhere, where I was from and it was so exciting. "There was so much opportunity in and around the city as well as the beautiful landscape in the city and the sea – it was a whole world that opened up. Where I've got in life wouldn't have happened without the opportunities that opened up for me in Swansea," she said. Now her challenge is being Wales' voice in the shadow cabinet. "People know me as someone with a love of Wales and an understanding of it over the last 30 years but there isn't masses of people to choose from and guess what? It was me. If I was doing health I would be travelling around the country getting to know different hospitals or what's going on. I'm doing exactly the same in Wales – whether it is knocking on doors and learning from my colleagues or going to a Conservative Club. "You get to know your subject and I know a lot about this subject," she said. "My main job is to speak up for Wales in Westminster, for my party in the official opposition, and hold [Welsh secretary] Jo Stevens and the Welsh Office to account. In terms of voices in Westminster I don't feel it's me that's not found my voice. I'm waiting to see, frankly, where the Labour government is. I think they're struggling to be heard. "I hope that people see that there is a credibility. I don't try and pretend to be Welsh but I understand Wales and I'm standing up for Wales and if I do a good job I'm out of a job, I'm very happy with that. I have to balance my own constituency as well but much of these are one and the same issues. Whether sky-high business rates or the tourism tax or the impacts on farming, what the government is doing is affecting Wales, it's affecting my constituency," she said. Mims Davies MP at the despatch box in the Commons Asked about the mood of the party, months after an election wipeout, she said: "I would say in some ways we're a tighter team than ever because, you rightly say, we've got a really big mountain to climb to come back but equally Labour are making such a mess of things, whether it's in Cardiff Bay or imploding and getting things so badly wrong here in Westminster, that actually it's drawing us closer. And we've got a big fight to get heard because of course there's still anger and trust issues with our party. "Let's be honest – we had a massive whack on the nose hence we've got no MPs left [in Wales] but for us to get together and have a plan to fix Wales to really stand out for an inherently Conservative offer, a vision for Wales, we're all really aligned on this," she said. The latest poll Wales put the Conservatives in the Senedd in fourth. "Labour have imploded so badly, so quickly, it's a plague on all of our houses and those other people look like fresh and new. Plaid, who have been propping up Labour for the last 25 years, are apparently the new kids on the block. "Voting Reform may be a great way of getting back at us but that will prop up Labour where people once again are really unhappy and they have no credible plan for Wales. We do. In Darren [Millar] and our team in the Senedd we are unashamedly focussed on holding Labour to account and making sure that where those opportunities to deliver for people actually happen. There has been a tendency to devolve and forget. "You can already say that the First Minister is trying to draw a bridge away from Labour in Westminster because things are going so badly wrong. We have to make sure that we are seen as a credible and the real alternative while people are angry." Mims Davies MP in her DJ Love Spoon era (Image: Mims Davies ) There is just shy of a year to go until the Senedd election. "I think we need to remind people who are looking to Plaid or others – they are the separatists, they're hiding the fact they want another referendum, and they're looking to pull us away. And they're anti-nuclear and many jobs rely on the nuclear sector and the defence sector. So they they need scrutiny as much as we need scrutiny. "We are in uncharted territory with what's happening with the Senedd with the additional politicians," she said, a change her party opposes. "We actually care about Wales. We need to make sure that people understand that we are pro-choice, pro-business, pro-family, pro-Welsh culture and that the way to fix Wales and get rid of that frustration is to vote Conservative. "We've got a year to go. We've got to build trust and we've got to highlight that the NHS has been run in Wales badly. "They've been running the NHS in Wales since Tony Blair was in power and many people have thought it's the Conservatives and are only now waking up to the fact that it's not us. Article continues below "We've got an opportunity here. Yes, it's an incredibly low base and people are cross, but whether it's us standing up for those who've been affected by the grooming gangs or standing up for farmers or the people who have the winter fuel allowance ripped away from them we need to remind people that we are the credible alternative and that we should be given a chance," she said.
The Independent
07-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Tories: Labour interested in protecting their own rather than grooming victims
The Government is more interested in 'protecting their own' than getting justice for the victims of grooming gangs, the Conservatives have suggested. In a heated exchange in the Commons, shadow equalities minister Mims Davies repeated calls for a national public inquiry into the sexual exploitation of children. Home Office minister Jess Phillips hit back, saying: 'I will absolutely protect my own in this, and my own in this are the women.' The issue hit the headlines in January after billionaire X owner Elon Musk criticised the Prime Minister and Ms Phillips over the UK's handling of child grooming scandals. The Government has knocked back calls for a national approach in favour of locally-led inquiries, saying it is focused on implementing recommendations from Professor Alexis Jay's Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). A rapid national audit, led by Baroness Casey, looking at the scale of grooming gangs across the country, is also being conducted. During women and equalities questions, Ms Davies said: 'Despite plenty of good women on the frontbench, I have to ask, is this Government simply more interested in protecting their own, rather than staying true to their manifesto pledge, which says we will use every tool to target perpetrators? 'Yet Labour are turning their back, you can hear it, once again with the Leader of this House (Lucy Powell) calling it dog whistle politics on national radio. 'So why won't this minister and her frontbench commit to deliver a proper national statutory public inquiry and finally, put victims first?' Ms Phillips, who has responsibility for safeguarding, replied: 'I will absolutely protect my own in this, and my own in this are the women in our country who for the last 14 years have had no effort made. 'And people say terrible things, and the Leader of the House was right to apologise. 'I wonder how many of those on the opposite bench asked the former prime minister (Boris Johnson) to apologise for saying that the exact girls that he was talking about, that their lives and looking into them, in an inquiry that already happened, that was statutory, was spaffing money up the walls. 'Where was the outrage?' Speaking on the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, the Health Secretary Wes Streeting said his colleague Lucy Powell was 'mortified' after she made comments that appeared to describe grooming gangs as a 'dog whistle'. The Leader of the House of Commons was on BBC Radio 4's Any Questions programme on Friday when a recent Channel 4 documentary about five women's stories of being groomed and abused by gangs was raised. Responding to Reform UK member Tim Montgomerie, Ms Powell replied: 'Oh, we want to blow that little trumpet now, do we? Let's get that dog whistle out, shall we?' In the Commons, Conservative MP Bob Blackman also called for a national inquiry, saying 'council staff, councillors, social workers and possibly the police have been complicit, or at least turned a blind eye to it'. He added: 'Given these circumstances, local inquiries are not going to be good enough. So will she now call for a nationwide, national inquiry, judge-led with witnesses being required to give evidence under oath, so those people that turned a blind eye could actually be brought to justice?' Ms Phillips, in her reply, said: 'National statutory inquiries don't actually send anyone to prison, just to be clear on that.'
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tories: Labour interested in protecting their own rather than grooming victims
Tories: Labour interested in protecting their own rather than grooming victims The Government is more interested in 'protecting their own' than getting justice for the victims of grooming gangs, the Conservatives have suggested. In a heated exchange in the Commons, shadow equalities minister Mims Davies repeated calls for a national public inquiry into the sexual exploitation of children. Home Office minister Jess Phillips hit back, saying: 'I will absolutely protect my own in this, and my own in this are the women.' The issue hit the headlines in January after billionaire X owner Elon Musk criticised the Prime Minister and Ms Phillips over the UK's handling of child grooming scandals. ADVERTISEMENT The Government has knocked back calls for a national approach in favour of locally-led inquiries, saying it is focused on implementing recommendations from Professor Alexis Jay's Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). A rapid national audit, led by Baroness Casey, looking at the scale of grooming gangs across the country, is also being conducted. During women and equalities questions, Ms Davies said: 'Despite plenty of good women on the frontbench, I have to ask, is this Government simply more interested in protecting their own, rather than staying true to their manifesto pledge, which says we will use every tool to target perpetrators? 'Yet Labour are turning their back, you can hear it, once again with the Leader of this House (Lucy Powell) calling it dog whistle politics on national radio. 'So why won't this minister and her frontbench commit to deliver a proper national statutory public inquiry and finally, put victims first?' Shadow equalities minister Mims Davies (Roger Harris/PA) Ms Phillips, who has responsibility for safeguarding, replied: 'I will absolutely protect my own in this, and my own in this are the women in our country who for the last 14 years have had no effort made. ADVERTISEMENT 'And people say terrible things, and the Leader of the House was right to apologise. 'I wonder how many of those on the opposite bench asked the former prime minister (Boris Johnson) to apologise for saying that the exact girls that he was talking about, that their lives and looking into them, in an inquiry that already happened, that was statutory, was spaffing money up the walls. 'Where was the outrage?' Speaking on the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, the Health Secretary Wes Streeting said his colleague Lucy Powell was 'mortified' after she made comments that appeared to describe grooming gangs as a 'dog whistle'. The Leader of the House of Commons was on BBC Radio 4's Any Questions programme on Friday when a recent Channel 4 documentary about five women's stories of being groomed and abused by gangs was raised. ADVERTISEMENT Responding to Reform UK member Tim Montgomerie, Ms Powell replied: 'Oh, we want to blow that little trumpet now, do we? Let's get that dog whistle out, shall we?' In the Commons, Conservative MP Bob Blackman also called for a national inquiry, saying 'council staff, councillors, social workers and possibly the police have been complicit, or at least turned a blind eye to it'. He added: 'Given these circumstances, local inquiries are not going to be good enough. So will she now call for a nationwide, national inquiry, judge-led with witnesses being required to give evidence under oath, so those people that turned a blind eye could actually be brought to justice?' Ms Phillips, in her reply, said: 'National statutory inquiries don't actually send anyone to prison, just to be clear on that.'
BBC News
24-04-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Wales-England border body Western Gateway loses funding
The organisation behind plans for a tidal lagoon in the Severn Estuary and improved rail connections across south Wales and western England, has lost its UK government Gateway received £1m a year as part of a three-year package announced in 2022, but will now cease to exist in its current form from 6 UK government announced its intention at the budget last autumn to stop funding so-called pan regional partnerships (PRPs) and wants the new system of elected mayors in England to take up their work shadow secretary of state for Wales, Mims Davies, said she was "horrified" by the decision. Western Gateway is a partnership of 28 local authorities stretching from Pembrokeshire to Swindon and had hoped for an exemption from UK government plans, because it is the only PRP to work across the borders of two nations of the a statement, the chair of Western Gateway Sarah Williams-Gardener accused UK ministers of refusing to said: "This is a hugely disappointing decision from the UK government."Despite representation from Welsh government calling for talks on how both governments can work together on this, requests to meet from business and locally elected leaders and MPs, they have refused to engage with any of us from our area on this decision."Last month a commission set up by the partnership published proposals calling on the UK and Welsh governments to build a tidal lagoon in the Severn Estuary to generate electricity. In January they revealed plans for faster trains and 30 new railway stations, with reduced journey times of 30 minutes between Cardiff and Bristol and an hour between Bristol and London. Western Gateway claimed it would add £17bn to the UK economy, but the scheme would depend on significant UK government funding to become organisation said it generated over £2m of in-kind and financial support and brought in £100m of funding for the area to try and develop the first small modular nuclear reactors in the UK. These are cheaper, smaller nuclear power stations which are partly assembled off-site. 'Different model' Western Gateway started back in 2016 as a collaboration between Cardiff, Bristol and Newport and became a UK-government-supported partnership in 2019.A spokesperson for the UK government ministry of housing, communities and local government said: "Our Plan for Change commits to ensuring every nation and region realises its full potential."Pan-Regional Partnerships have made a valuable contribution but as our English Devolution White Paper sets out, we are now moving to a different model of pan-regional collaboration where we are keen to support new models driven by Mayors and their partners."Wales does not have a system of devolution to elected mayors, but the UK government has said it would continue to work with the Welsh government to develop local growth a letter to Labour's Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens, the Conservative shadow Welsh secretary Mims Davies urged her to get her colleagues to wrote: "I am absolutely horrified to learn your government has pulled the crucial funding on the incredibly important Western Gateway."She added: "It is bitterly disappointing that the fantastic work undertaken by the organisation has been cancelled."Ms Williams-Gardener said the partnership's work showed that the area they covered could become the fastest-growing part of the UK economy outside of Wales has been told that the local authorities were keen to continue working together, but would have to do so without the support provided by Western Welsh government declined to comment.
The Independent
12-03-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Cardiff University denies it is ‘offshoring jobs' despite Tory MP's claims
Cardiff University has denied claims from a senior Conservative MP that it is 'off-shoring jobs' by opening up a campus in Kazakhstan while 400 roles could be cut by the institution. Shadow Welsh secretary Mims Davies told MPs on Wednesday morning the university was moving jobs to Kazakhstan in response to Rachel Reeves' budget last year, which raised employers' national insurance contributions by 1.2%. A 90-day consultation is under way at the university, as it blamed a funding shortfall for its proposals to cut 400 full-time roles and close a number of degree programmes, including nursing and music. Professor Wendy Larner, vice-chancellor of the university, said it was 'no longer an option' to continue as it was without taking difficult decisions. The university said it would make compulsory redundancies only if 'absolutely necessary'. Meanwhile, the university is opening up a branch campus in the central Asian country. It is hoping to welcome its first students in September 2025. A Cardiff University spokesperson said roles 'will not be 'offshored''. They said the university will not be asking any staff to teach in Kazakhstan who do not wish to, nor making Cardiff staff redundant then offering them a contract in Kazakhstan. Addressing Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens, Ms Davies said: 'Who is she batting for? Kazakhstan or Wales? Due to Labour's political choices, countless jobs in Wales are at risk due to the national insurance rise. 'It is clear to see the damaging impact it is having in the minister's own back yard with reportedly over 1,800 jobs at risk at Cardiff University, among many sectors who are desperately trying to stay afloat due to the Welsh Government's jobs tax, the Labour Government's impact on the Welsh economy. 'With Cardiff University ploughing on with their Kazakhstan campus, can (she) be happy with the offshoring of these roles in this sector and many others because of the fallout of the autumn budget continuing?' Cardiff University is currently reporting a £31.2 million operational deficit, with proposed changes expected to reduce the total workforce by 7%. On Sunday, former Welsh education minister Leighton Andrews, who is now a professor at Cardiff University, told the BBC 1,800 staff had been informed their jobs were at risk of redundancy. Labour's Ms Stevens said: 'I'm not sure where (Ms Davies) has got this idea about outsourcing jobs from. It was her party that told our universities across the country to go out and recruit international students, which they did. 'And now, because of that, and because of what happened under her last government's watch, those international students are not coming any more. She should again look to her colleagues in the Senedd, the education budget, her party voted against. She needs to talk to her colleagues in the Senedd.' A Cardiff University spokesperson said: 'Our plans to develop our first overseas branch in Kazakhstan are in no way linked to our Academic Future proposals. 'They form part of our commitment to delivering excellent education across the globe. This collaboration, which is yet to be approved, will be one of a network of transnational education partnerships we're exploring. 'Roles will not be 'offshored'. In a recent all-staff update we made it clear that we will not be asking any staff to teach in Kazakhstan who do not wish to. Nor will we be making Cardiff staff redundant and then offering them a contract in Kazakhstan. 'We may encourage some staff to volunteer to teach there – several have already done so because of their interest in the region, or because they have family close by. 'In due course we may also employ staff locally. We also made it clear that there has been no upfront investment from Cardiff University apart from the cost of undertaking due diligence. 'We would be happy to meet with the shadow secretary of state to discuss our plans in detail.'
