Sir Wayne David (born 1 July 1957) is a Welsh politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Caerphilly from 2001 to 2024. A member of the Labour Party, he was Leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party from 1994 to 1998. As a Member of the European Parliament, he represented South Wales from 1989 to 1994 and South Wales Central from 1994 to 1999.
David served in government as an Assistant whip from 2007 to 2008 and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales from 2008 to 2010. He was a Shadow Minister under every Leader of the Opposition from 2010 to 2021, and Parliamentary Private Secretary to Ed Miliband during his tenure in the role. He was ranked as the best MP in the United Kingdom by constituents in Change.org's People-Power Index in 2019. He was Knight Bachelor in the 2024 Birthday Honours for Parliamentary and political service.
He stood down as an MEP to contest the Rhondda in the first National Assembly for Wales elections in 1999. David lost to the Plaid Cymru candidate by over 2,000 votes.
David was a member of the European Scrutiny Committee from 2001 to 2007. In 2005, he was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Ministry of Defence team and then subsequently to Adam Ingram, Minister of State for the Armed Forces. He resigned as a PPS on 6 September 2006, along with a number of others, citing Prime Minister Tony Blair's refusal to name a departure date.
At the 2005 general election, David was re-elected as MP for Caerphilly, with a decreased vote share of 56.6% and an increased majority of 15,359.
After Gordon Brown became Prime Minister, David was appointed as an Assistant Whip to the Department for Work and Pensions and Wales Office in July 2007. Following the October 2008 government reshuffle, he was promoted to Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales.
At the 2010 general election, David was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 44.9% and a decreased majority of 10,755. Caerphilly BBC Election - Caerphilly
Following Labour's defeat at the 2010 general election, he served as Shadow Wales Minister from May to October 2010. David was appointed Shadow Europe Minister in October 2011. He served as Shadow Political and Constitutional Reform Minister from October 2011 until October 2013, when he became PPS to opposition leader Ed Miliband alongside Karen Buck. At the 2015 general election, David was again re-elected with a decreased vote share of 44.3% and a decreased majority of 10,073.
In July 2015, he was appointed to shadow the Cabinet Office, Scotland Office, and Justice Department with three portfolios; Political and Constitutional Reform, Scotland, and Youth Justice. David was re-appointed to the roles by Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn in September 2015, but resigned the following June after losing confidence in his leadership. He supported Owen Smith in the 2016 Labour leadership election.
David re-joined the Corbyn's front bench in October 2016 as Shadow Armed Forces and Defence Procurement Minister. He was re-elected at the snap 2017 general election, with an increased vote share of 54.5% and an increased majority of 12,078. He was again re-elected at the 2019 general election, with a decreased vote share of 44.9% and a decreased majority of 6,833.
David briefly departed the front bench from January until April 2020, when he became Shadow Middle East and North Africa Minister. He stood down from the position in December 2021, and announced in February 2022 his intention to retire at the 2024 general election. He chose not to seek re-election due to his age. He returned to the position of Shadow Middle East and North Africa Minister in June 2023.
David is a member of Labour Friends of Israel.
He stood down as an MP at the 2024 general election.
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