Move from Conservative Party to Labour Party

Davies left the Conservative Party to join the Labour Party benches on 26 June 2007, the night before Gordon Brown became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.^[7] Davies made his decision public in a letter to the Conservative leader David Cameron in which he wrote: "Under your leadership the Conservative Party appears to me to have ceased collectively to believe in anything, or to stand for anything. It has no bedrock. It exists on shifting sands. A sense of mission has been replaced by a PR agenda."^[7] He went on, "I am looking forward to joining another party...which has just acquired a leader I have always greatly admired, who I believe is entirely straightforward, and who has a towering record, and a clear vision for the future of our country which I fully share."^[8] He accused Cameron of "superficiality, unreliability and an apparent lack of any clear convictions." He said that these qualities ought to "exclude you from the position of national leadership to which you aspire and which it is the presumed purpose of the Conservative Party to achieve."^[9]

Two years prior to his defection, in a speech in the House of Commons Davies described Gordon Brown as "extraordinarily incompetent", "imprudent", "extraordinarily naïve" and said in conclusion "I trust and believe that something nasty will happen to the Chancellor in electoral terms before too long. He will have no one but himself to blame."^[10]

Criticism of Ministry of Defence's attitude to war equipment

On 5 October 2008, Davies was promoted to the government, becoming a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence Equipment and Support at the Ministry of Defence. Davies replaced Lady Taylor as both Parliamentary Under-Secretary and Defence Procurement Minister. Davies came under fire less than a month after taking over the Defence Equipment brief when an SAS reservist commander in Afghanistan resigned because of what he described as a 'chronic underinvestment' in troops' equipment and called the government's attitude to the consideration of the lack of military equipment 'cavalier at best, criminal at worst'.

Major Sebastien Morley resigned after four soldiers under his command were killed whilst serving in the Army's Snatch Land Rovers which are lightly armoured and cannot withstand roadside bombs; the Snatches have been described as 'mobile coffins' by the soldiers. The government subsequently ordered new armoured vehicles to the areas in an effort to increase the security of those serving in the warzone and indeed to prevent more troop fatalities.^[11]

Davies added it was not the attitude of the government to be dismissive of the lives' of British soldiers and he said it was 'very surprising and sad' to hear the claims of the former SAS commander and when on visiting troops in Afghanistan recently all those he spoke to were pleased with the equipment supplied.^[12] He said: "Obviously, there may be occasions when, in retrospect, a commander chose the wrong piece of equipment, the wrong vehicle, for the particular threat that the patrol or whatever it was encountered and we had some casualties as a result."^[13] The comment drew much criticism from fellow MPs and family members of military personnel for the lack of sensitivity.^[14][15][16]

Expenses

In 2009, during the row over parliamentary expenses, the Sunday Mirror stated that Davies claimed £10,000 for repairs to window frames at his "second home", an 18th-century mansion, while staying at his "main home", a flat in Westminster.^[17] In 2008, his Member's Claim Form for Additional Costs Allowance was filled out with a figure of £20,700 relating to maintenance to a Bell Tower. The form was later amended to read £5,376. Davies' total expense claims were often higher than the average.^[18] of all MPs.