Geraint Davies (Plaid Cymru politician)

For other people named Geraint Davies, see Geraint Davies (disambiguation).

Geraint Rhys Davies (born 1 December 1948) is a Welsh Plaid Cymru politician. He was the National Assembly for Wales Member for Rhondda from 1999 to 2003.

Geraint Davies
Geraint Davies in 1999
Member of the Welsh Assembly for Rhondda
In office 6 May 1999 – 1 May 2003
Preceded by	New Assembly
Succeeded by	Leighton Andrews
Personal details
Born	(1948-12-01) 1 December 1948 (age 76) Treherbert, Wales
Political party	Plaid Cymru
Alma mater	University of London

Background

Davies attended Pentre Grammar School, Chelsea College, and the University of London.

He was a pharmacist in Treherbert.^[1]

Post-Graduate Training, Rookwood Hospital, Cardiff 1971–72. Relief Manager and Manager, Boots the Chemists 1972–75. Self-Employed Community Pharmacist in Treherbert since 1975. President of Blaenrhondda Football Club and a deacon at Blaencwm Baptist church. School Governor. In 2024 at the Eisteddfod Geraint was awarded Bard of the Eisteddfod named Geraint if Blaen-y-Cwm

Political career

Local Government

Davies served a councillor on District of Rhondda Council until its abolition 1996 as well as a County Borough Councillor for the ward of Treherbert in Rhondda Cynon Taff from 1995 to 2004 and again from 2012 to 2022 when he stood down at the age of 73.After serving the Treherbert Ward for 42 years.

National Assembly for Wales

Davies was elected as the Assembly Member for the Rhondda Valley in the first National Assembly for Wales election, in a surprise upset in a traditionally safe Welsh Labour area.^[2][3] He defeated Wayne David, former leader of the Labour Party in the European Parliament to take the seat, with a majority of 2,285.^[4]

He served Plaid Cymru's spokesperson for the South Wales Valleys,^[5] and was a member of the Local Government Partnership Council and Health and Social Services Committee.

In 2002 he was part of a Plaid delegation who went on a 4-day visit to Palestine, and met Yasser Arafat.^[6][7] He was critical of the response to ongoing conflict in Israel and Palestine, and at Plaid's 2002 Conference described Tony Blair as tough on terrorism but not on the "causes of terrorism" and said that Israel showed "total and blatant disregard of UN resolutions".^[8]

He lost his seat in 2003, coming second, and 7,954 votes short of Leighton Andrews, who took the seat for Welsh Labour.^[9] He did not seek election to the Assembly again.