Dehenna Davison

Dehenna Sheridan Davison (/diˈɛnə/; born 27 July 1993) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bishop Auckland since the 2019 general election. She is the first Conservative to represent the constituency since its creation in 1885. The seat had previously been represented by a Labour Party MP since 1935.

Early life

Dehenna Sheridan Davison was born on 27 July 1993 in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England where she also grew up. Her father was a stonemason, and her mother was a nursery nurse. Davison was privately educated at the Sheffield High School on a full scholarship. Her father died when she was 13 years old after being attacked in a pub. His alleged assailant was acquitted in the subsequent murder trial but was jailed for manslaughter. She represented the family in a criminal injuries compensation tribunal at the age of 16. She has commented in interviews that the experience fostered her interest in politics.

Davison studied British Politics and Legislative Studies at the University of Hull. During her time at the university, she spent a year working as a parliamentary aide for Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Somerset. In her late teens and early twenties, she had a variety of jobs including in a video games retailer, a casino, a betting shop, and a branch of Pizza Hut.

Parliamentary career

Davison was selected as the Conservative candidate for the Kingston upon Hull North constituency in the 2015 general election. She finished in third behind the Labour Party and UK Independence Party candidates. Davison supported Brexit in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. She next contested the Sedgefield constituency in the 2017 general election where she finished second behind the Labour candidate.

She was elected as MP for the Bishop Auckland constituency in the 2019 general election, with a majority of 7,962 (17.8%) on a swing of 9.5% from Labour to the Conservatives. Davison was the first Conservative MP for the constituency since its creation in 1885. The seat had been represented by a Labour MP since 1935. Her campaign focused on promises on Brexit, and reopening Bishop Auckland Hospital's emergency department which had been closed in 2009. Prior to becoming an MP, Davison was a research and development analyst for LUMO, a company which advises businesses on tax credits.

She made her maiden speech on 16 January 2020. Davison supports scrapping the planned high-speed railway project HS2, and re-investing the money into local transport schemes. On 14 February, it was reported that she had been photographed with two alleged far-right activists at a party to celebrate Brexit on 31 January in her constituency. Advocacy group Hope not Hate called for the Conservatives to undertake an investigation and suspend her from the party. Davison responded to the allegations by stating, "These photos were taken at an event open to the public and I in no way whatsoever condone the views highlighted of the individuals concerned."

In April 2020, amidst the coronavirus pandemic, Davison was criticised for posting a video of herself drinking alcohol whilst miming to the song 'Bored in the House' by Tyga, including the expletive 'motherfucking'. Despite deleting the video, Davison defended her actions, claiming that: “This was nothing more than adding to light-hearted content being produced by millions to stay positive during this lockdown".

Davison has been a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee since March 2020.

Personal life

Davison married John Fareham, a Conservative councillor on Hull City Council in 2018. He is 35 years older than her. They appeared together on the Channel 4 documentary series Bride and Prejudice, which showed their wedding at the Guildhall, Kingston upon Hull. They separated before the 2019 general election. She lives in the village of High Etherley in her parliamentary constituency.