Rowenna Davis

This article is about a journalist. For the gymnast, see Rowena Davis.

Rowenna Davis
Davis in 2015
Born (1985-02-28) 28 February 1985 (age 41)
Lewisham,[1] London, England
Alma materBalliol College, Oxford
OccupationsTeacher and journalist
Notable workTangled Up in Blue
Political party
Labour and Co-operative[2]

Rowenna Davis (born 28 February 1985) is a British author and journalist. She has written numerous articles for publications such as the New Statesman, The Guardian, The Sun and The Economist. In 2011, Davis authored Tangled Up in Blue, an examination of the rise of the Blue Labour movement. Since 2022 she has been Labour Party councillor representing Waddon ward in the London Borough of Croydon. She has worked as a teacher and political journalist. She has previously been a Labour councillor for the London Borough of Southwark and contested the parliamentary seat of Southampton Itchen in the 2015 general election and the Croydon mayoral election in 2026.

Early life and education

Davis was born in Lewisham[1] and spent her early years in Portsmouth and Catford before her family moved to North London, where she attended the comprehensive Hampstead School. At the age of fourteen, she organised a protest against the quality of the school meals provided by Serco. Home-cooked, healthy food was offered in a rival, all-you-can-eat tuck shop and the students boycotted the official canteen, forcing them to change their menu within two weeks.[3][4] In 2003 she and two schoolfriends organised 'Hands Up For Peace' in response to the war in Iraq. This led to thousands of other students making a hand-print bearing their name and a message of peace. These were then printed out, attached to sticks and planted in Parliament Square to make a protest with the intention of influencing Prime Minister Tony Blair.[5][6][7][8]

After leaving school, she read Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Balliol College, Oxford. In 2005, while still an undergraduate, she won the Oxford Leadership Prize which is a contest requiring an essay on a contemporary issue of political leadership. Her winning essay, "Invisible Leaders", was presented in a novel audio format and won her the prize of £4,000.[9] Her leadership models were those that "create space and opportunity for action".[10] She subsequently undertook a postgraduate MA degree in journalism from City University London.[11][12]

Journalism

Since graduating from Oxford University, Davis has worked as an intern at Bloomberg News and as a freelance journalist, writing for publications such as The Guardian,[13] The Independent,[14] the New Statesman, the Mail on Sunday, The Economist, The Times, the Times Higher Education and the Financial Times.[15] Davis has appeared as a political commentator for a variety of current affairs television and radio programmes such as Daily Politics, The Politics Show, Newsnight, Sunday Politics and Sky News.[16]

In September 2011, she published the book Tangled Up in Blue,[17] which is an account of the development of Blue Labour, a movement within the Labour Party founded by Lord Glasman.[18][19]

Political and teaching career

In 2010, Davis stood as the Labour candidate for the Cathedrals ward of Southwark, but lost to a Liberal Democrat candidate.[20] She entered a Microsoft contest of ideas for the 18–25 age group and won £10,000 of sponsorship for her plan to engage unemployed, young people in local government, encouraging them to become councillors.[21][22] In May 2011, she was herself elected to Southwark Council as councillor in the Lane ward of Peckham which she won with a swing from the Lib Dems of 12%.[23] As a councillor, she campaigned against the proliferation of betting shops in the borough.[24]

On 13 July 2013, Davis was selected as the Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Southampton Itchen, Although Davis was criticised for her lack of connections to Southampton, the retiring MP John Denham endorsed her, saying "I know that Rowenna Davis has the drive and vision to represent Southampton superbly in the years ahead...".[25] She lost to Conservative Royston Smith by 2,316 votes (5.2%) in the 2015 United Kingdom general election.

In June 2015, Davis announced via Twitter that she was training to become a teacher.[26] In 2019, she was teaching English at Harris Invictus Academy Croydon.[27]

In 2019, Davis put herself forward for selection as Labour's candidate for Croydon and Sutton in the 2020 London Assembly election but was not selected.[28] In 2022 she was elected to represent the Waddon ward of Croydon Council.[29] In 2026, she placed second in the Croydon mayoral election, with 29.7% of the vote.[30]

References

  1. ^ a b Rowenna Davis (21 January 2013). "Lewisham". New Statesman. I was born in Lewisham hospital
  2. ^ Karin Christiansen, Rowenna Davis – Labour & Co-operative Parliamentary Candidate for Southampton Itchen, The Co-operative Party
  3. ^ Joe Jervis (23 April 2015). "Fifteen for 2015". Young Fabians.
  4. ^ Shahera Safrin (22 April 2015). "Labour's Rowenna Davis". Wessex Scene. Archived from the original on 3 February 2016.
  5. ^ Mark Ellis; Stephen Moyes; Helen Cook (21 March 2003). "Gulf War 2: ... Thousands protest in the streets". Daily Mirror.
  6. ^ E Such; O Walker (2005), "Anti-War Children", Childhood, 12 (3): 301–326, doi:10.1177/0907568205054924, S2CID 143703828
  7. ^ Liz Ford (20 March 2003). "Students raise their hands in protest". The Guardian.
  8. ^ Libby Brooks (26 April 2003). "Kid power". The Guardian.
  9. ^ "The Oxford Leadership Prize". Saïd Business School. 2005. Archived from the original on 10 February 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  10. ^ Michael MacCoby (2013). The Leaders We Need. Harvard Business Press. p. 94. ISBN 978-1422163603.
  11. ^ Greenslade, Roy (4 March 2011). "Men still dominate national newspaper journalism". The Guardian.
  12. ^ BA Journalism[permanent dead link], History & Context of Journalism, 26 February 2014
  13. ^ "Register of interests - Councillor Rowenna Davis". Southwark Council. 12 July 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  14. ^ Rowenna Davis (7 January 2010). "Running a prison may not sound glamorous but it's never dull". The Independent.
  15. ^ Rowenna Davis (7 December 2007). "Swapping women's rights for ladies' nights". Times Higher Education.
  16. ^ "Rowenna Davis". Battle of Ideas. Institute of Ideas.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  17. ^ Davis, Rowenna (2011). Tangled up in Blue: Blue Labour and the struggle for Labour's Soul. London: Ruskin. ISBN 9781780720685.
  18. ^ Abigail O'Reilly (23 October 2011). "Tangled Up in Blue, By Rowenna Davis". The Independent.
  19. ^ George Eaton (14 November 2011). "Tangled Up in Blue By Rowenna Davis". New Statesman.
  20. ^ "Election Results for Cathedrals Ward". Southwark Council. 6 May 2010. Archived from the original on 10 May 2010.
  21. ^ Richard Tyler (29 June 2010). "Microsoft backing for young people to enter local politics". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2 July 2010.
  22. ^ "Young people: Local Government", Life Academy, Hugo & Cat for Microsoft, archived from the original on 8 July 2010
  23. ^ "Lane Ward by-election result – Labour's Rowenna Davis elected". Harriet Harman. 5 May 2011.
  24. ^ "Petition to restrict Southwark bookmakers". BBC News. 14 February 2012.
  25. ^ "Denham endorses Davis as Labour election candidate". Bitterne Park's local website - bitternepark.info. 7 January 2015.
  26. ^ Rowenna Davis (24 July 2015). "Just passed my literacy and numeracy tests to become a teacher! (And renewed empathy for exam anxiety amongst students...)". @RowennaDavis – via Twitter.
  27. ^ Walter Cronxite (8 February 2019). "Skipper named in Labour's five-woman shortlist for Norbury". Inside Croydon. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  28. ^ Walter Cronxite (28 June 2019). "'Blue Labour royalty' steps forward for Assembly selection". Inside Croydon.
  29. ^ "Councillor Rowenna Davis". croyden.gov.uk. Retrieved 1 May 2026.
  30. ^ "Election results share | Croydon Council". www.croydon.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2026.

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