Davies was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, as the eldest of two sons.[4] His mother and father were a state primary school teacher and a small business owner respectively.
While at Columbia Threadneedle Investments, he helped create the firm's first charitable foundation, which supports small British charities focused on social mobility.[4]
In 2018, Davies was named as a 'rising star' in European finance by Financial News.[7]
Ahead of the 2019 general election, he was selected as the prospective Conservative candidate for Grantham and Stamford.[11] It is a safe Conservative seat, having elected a member of the party since 1997. At the 2019 general election, Davies was elected as MP with 65.7% of the vote and a majority of 26,003, achieving a swing of 5.4% and the largest majority in the seat's history.[12][13] He made his maiden speech in Parliament in March 2020.[14]
In 2021, Davies introduced a Private Member's Bill to the Commons, which was entitled the Paternity (Leave and Pay) Bill.[18] The bill was based on a policy report Davies wrote for the Centre for Social Justice.[19] It aimed to extend the eligibility of paternity leave and pay to include more fathers, as well as to provide for more flexibility in the timing of and notice period for paternity leave. However, the bill never progressed beyond its second reading.
Davies was appointed as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in April 2023, following a mini-reshuffle.[21] His responsibilities included UK economic growth, productivity, and investment, which also covered UK infrastructure, the digital economy, economic regulation and foreign direct investment.
Davies is considered to be on the right of the British parliamentary party and is a member of the 92 Group of Conservative MPs,[4] an invitation-only group associated with furthering Thatcherism.
Davies has described himself in an interview with the Financial Times as "a businessman in politics" and has used his time in Parliament to push for more policies that mobilise private capital.[5]
Davies successfully lobbied the Government to issue its first ever sovereign green bond, which the Chancellor announced in 2020.[23][24] This policy saw the Government issue over £10 billion of dedicated debt to "specifically fund capital investment in infrastructure that will help stimulate the British economy."[25][26]
In March 2022, Davies wrote a report titled 'Investing for Prosperity' for the Centre for Policy Studies.[29] In the report, he called for the reform of British International Investment (BII) to unlock new sources of capital and harness new financial instruments. In November 2023 the Foreign Secretary, David Cameron, published an FCDO white paper which included a commitment to implement a number of reforms to BII championed by Davies.[30]
Davies has been a staunch opponent of the 4.2 mile (6.76km) Mallard Pass Solar Farm, which straddles Lincolnshire and Rutland, and aims to provide renewable energy to 92,000 homes.[31]
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