Ex-Labour MP accused of sexual harassment joins Plaid Cymru

LONDON — A former Labour MP who was suspended from the party following allegations of sexual harassment has joined Plaid Cymru, the ruling party in Wales. Geraint Davies made the announcement on the news website Nation Cymru, where he claimed that he was forced out as an MP because of “local rivalries and disobeying Keir Starmer’s orders to speaking [sic] out against killings in Gaza.” He described allegations of sexual misconduct against him as “untrue anonymous hearsay in the media.”

In 2023, five women alleged that Davies, a former Commons select committee chair, subjected them to unwanted sexual attention, both physical and verbal, after coming into contact with them through his work as an MP. Davies had the whip suspended as a Labour MP immediately after the allegations were made public but remained a member of the party until 2025. When the claims against Davies were first reported by POLITICO, he said he did not “recognize” them, adding: “If I have inadvertently caused offence to anyone, then I am naturally sorry.”

In these instances, the women had raised concerns about his behavior informally but had not complained in writing. At least two women later filed official complaints with the Labour Party, resulting in an investigation lasting more than a year. Davies was not eligible to stand as a candidate in the 2024 election because he was suspended, and quit the party ahead of a planned hearing on his conduct in 2025. As a result, the hearing never went ahead.

The former MP for Swansea West argued in the article published Thursday that the party engineered his removal as a candidate for factional reasons. “I was made to wait 23 weeks without any complaints. When complaints were made, they were ‘to support other women’ who had not made any complaints. None were reported to Parliament,” he said. Two women who previously made allegations against Davies, and were granted anonymity to protect their privacy, contacted POLITICO on Friday to object to his statement to Nation Cymru.

One, a sitting Labour MP first elected in 2015, said she had entered a formal complaint with the party to raise an allegation of unwanted touching. “Having been touched by Geraint against my wishes, I can say the allegations of sexual harassment are more than hearsay. Whilst I can’t speak for other women’s experiences, I know the way he touched me left me deeply upset and unsettled and I spent most of the years we were both MPs trying to put as much physical distance between us as was possible,” she said.

A second woman said: “As someone who experienced this behaviour firsthand, I know that these claims are not hearsay. Women don’t come forward because of exactly this kind of platform and response.” A Labour Party spokesperson said: “All complaints are assessed thoroughly in line with our rules and procedures. To protect the confidentiality of the complainants, we do not provide information about specific allegations made.” They added: “It is categorically untrue to suggest that the fact Mr Davies was not re-selected as a Labour candidate was unconnected to the serious allegations made about his conduct.”

A spokesperson for Plaid Cymru, the Welsh nationalist party, said: “Plaid Cymru treats all complaints of sexual harassment and abuse with the utmost seriousness. Every concern raised is taken seriously, and allegations are considered fairly and thoroughly, taking into account all available evidence. We encourage anyone who has experienced or witnessed inappropriate behaviour to come forward, so that concerns can be properly investigated and appropriate action taken.”

Davies did not respond to a request for comment.