Alun Davies (politician)

(Thomas) Alun Rhys Davies (born 12 February 1964) is a Labour Party politician. After beginning his political career in Plaid Cymru he switched to the Labour Party and in 2007 was elected to the National Assembly for Wales from the Mid and West Wales region. He is a former Welsh public affairs consultant.

Background

Davies was born in Tredegar and went to Tredegar Comprehensive School followed by the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth where he read Politics. He was involved in student politics at the time and was elected President of National Union of Students Wales. He first worked as a campaigner on environmental issues for the World Wide Fund for Nature, and later as a poverty campaigner for Oxfam during which time he visited Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.

Professional career

Davies then went to work as public and corporate affairs manager for Hyder, which combined Wales' main utilities; he specialised in its capital investment programme. He subsequently transferred to be Head of Public Affairs at the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, and later became Director of Corporate Affairs for Welsh language television station S4C. In 2004 he started Bute Communications, his own public affairs consultancy.

Political career

Davies also became an active politician in Plaid Cymru and was the party's candidate in Blaenau Gwent at the 1992 general election and in Cynon Valley in the 1997 general election.

Having joined the Labour Party, Davies was the party's candidate in Ceredigion at the 2005 general election; during the campaign he had to apologise for a confrontration with actor Rhys Ifans at a Cardiff hotel.Daniel Davies, " [http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/tm_objectid=15388174&method=full&siteid=50082&headline=-our-man-said-sorry-for-ifans-clash--says-labour-name_page.html Our man said sorry for Ifans clash, says Labour] ", "Western Mail", 11 April 2005.]

National Assembly for Wales

He was chosen as first on the Labour Party list for 'top-up' seats from the Mid and West Wales region for the 2007 Assembly election, and because of Labour losses in the region the party secured two seats.

References

External links

* [http://www.alundavies.org.uk/ Alun Davies AM Website]
* [http://www.welshlabour.org.uk/ Welsh Labour Party Website]
* [http://new.wales.gov.uk/?lang=en Website of the Welsh Assembly Government]
* [http://www.walesassembly.org/ Website of the National Assembly for Wales]