Name: William 'Bill' Davison
Avatar: Michael Heseltine (later years)
Age: 80 (b. 02.02.1939)
Sex: Male
Ethnicity: White British
Marital Status: Widowed (m. Sheila Davison 1957, d. 2017)
Party: Labour and Cooperative
Primary Tribe: Tribune
Secondary Tribes: Blairite, Open Labour
Brexit Position: Remain
Constituency: Tynemouth
Year Elected: 1992
Education: State educated
Career:
1956 - 1968 - National Service, followed by regular military service. Achieved rank of Sergeant.
1968 - 1980 - HM Diplomatic Service
1980 - 1992 - Journalist, New Statesman
Political Career:
1992 - Present - Member of Parliament for Tynemouth
1997 - 2001 - Member, Defence Committee
2001 - 2003 - Minister of State, MoD
2003 - 2010 - Minister of State, FCO
2010 - 2013 - Member, Joint Committee on Security and Intelligence
William 'Bill' Davison was born in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne to William Davison (Sr) and his wife Henrietta (née Mountain). Davison was educated locally at a school in which his father was the caretaker and his mother a cleaner. William and his siblings, of which there were five, would spend their evenings and weekends doing chores and helping to maintain the school grounds. William worked with his father in the boilerhouse most Saturdays.
Davison's older brothers each served in World War Two and after the war ended, William was determined to follow suit. He was called for National Service in 1956 and served even after the end of conscription, ending his service in 1968. During this time he mainly worked on deployment in India. William had every intention at this stage of returning to Newcastle and following his father's footsteps of becoming a caretaker, which would have provided a stable job and home for the family.
However, William had been fortunate to service alongside an ambitious young Captain during his service who offered to help him get an interview for a job in the civil service. William initially declined but tough economic realities encouraged him to try. He impressed during interview and was accepted in the Diplomatic Service for his knowledge of India especially. William enjoyed 12 years in the Service before opting to leave and spend more time at home. He took up journalism and wrote for the New Statesman on issues of foreign police and military strategy.
William had been a member of the Labour Party his entire life, as was the custom for working-class boys from Newcastle. He was active in his local branch and eventually ran, unsuccessfully, for Parliament in Hexham in 1989. At the subsequent election, Davison was selected for the seat of Tynemouth, which he won and has held ever since.
Davison's politics were always on the moderate wing of the Labour Party, usually in the Labour First tradition. He was critical of the far left Militant in the 1980s and of the more extreme elements of Blairism in the 1990s. However, after working as a Minister during the Blair Government during the invasion of Iraq, he earned some long-standing allies on their wing of the party. His later stint at the FCO during the Premiership of Gordon Brown also earned him some key allies.
Davison retired from frontbench positions when Labour left office in 2010. He served on the Security and Intelligence Committee for a few years however soon opted to stand down due his wife's ailing health. Upon the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour Leader, Davison has resided mostly in the political wilderness alongside many Brownite, Blairite and Milibandite colleagues.
