For an up-and-coming politician, Alex Davies-Jones has been around a long time. First elected as a Welsh Labour MP for Pontypridd in 2019, she's been something of a rising star ever since – particularly in the ending male violence against women and girls (VAWG) space.
We first met in February earlier this year – in Westminister Hall, no less. As Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence and Safeguarding, Alex attended GLAMOUR's parliamentary roundtable on deepfake abuse, which we hosted in partnership with Greg Clark, then the Conservative MP for Tunbridge Wells and Chair of the Science, Innovation, and Technology Committee.
I hadn't expected Alex to be there. Truthfully, I'd worried that no one would turn up. Even just nine months ago, deepfake technology – not to mention the broader issue of image-based abuse – was regarded as a comparatively fringe issue. But over the next few months, bumping into Alex at VAWG-centered events became a regular occurrence; I distinctly remember passionately talking her through GLAMOUR's new campaign for a comprehensive Image-Based Abuse Law at Women's Aid's 50th birthday celebration, hosted by Netflix earlier this year. She nodded along, perhaps used to being cornered at these things by journalists – but I could have sworn she gave me a knowing wink, too.
When Alex and I meet for this interview at Condé Nast's UK office, a 10-minute walk from Westminster, it's a rather more formal affair. Alex is still the Welsh Labour MP for Pontypridd, but this time, she's in government – one of 190 Labour women MPs – and duly appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Violence Against Women and Girls at the Ministry of Justice. Across all correspondence to organise this interview, Alex is no longer “Alex”; she's “the Minister”. Still, the black skinny jeans and a sparkly blouse she wears for the interview are “all high street” – no scandals here, thank you very much.
I have roughly 45 minutes with the Minister before she needs to dart off to Blackpool. Strictly? I ask. No, an event for International Men's Day, she replies. And with that, before I can hit record on my Voice Memo app, we're diving straight into Labour's pledge to halve violence against women and girls within a decade.
“It sounds ambitious,” she starts. “But we have to do it. There's no time to waste.” She cites the following Labour Manifesto commitments: introducing independent legal advocates for rape victims, strengthening the role of the victim's commissioner, and putting domestic abuse specialists in 999 call centres.
“It's about everyone coming together to drive that cultural change about why we have this issue in our country tackling sexism, misogyny, violence against women and girls head on, and making sure that it's totally unacceptable wherever it happens.”
Our conversation turns to image-based abuse – which GLAMOUR defines as a “broad term that covers a range of harmful actions involving nude or sexual images” – and how the government intends to tackle it over the next four years. “Nearly a third of all women have experienced some form of intimate image abuse,” explains Alex. “It doesn't discriminate, and it can be just as damaging as physical abuse in terms of the impact it has on your mental health, on feeling safe, on your feeling of being violated.”
“It's fundamental that we tackle image-based abuse along with every other form of violence against women and girls.”
It's far from the first time Alex has spoken out against online misogyny. Back in January 2023, the politician received rape and death threats for speaking out against the “toxic” influence of Andrew Tate, who has since been arrested and charged with sex trafficking, which he denies.
She raised the issue during Prime Minister's Questions, accusing then-PM Rishi Sunak of being "too slow to recognise the damage this is causing”.
“Women were coming to me and talking about the horrors of certain influencers online and the rhetoric they were spewing and the impact it was having on their daily life,” explains Alex. “I needed to speak out, and I needed to raise this issue and bring public attention to it. The attention of people who are in a position where they can do something about it.”
While Alex was prepared for a certain level of backlash when she spoke out against Tate, she wasn't “expecting the extent to which it was so severe, horrific and quite nasty”.
“All it did was just spur me on,” she continues. “For every rape or death threat that I received for speaking out about this, I got 10 more supportive emails or messages from people who were thanking me for speaking out and urging me to do more.”
The political has always been personal for Alex Davies-Jones. She grew up in a “traditional South Wales Valley home” and was profoundly influenced by her dad, Austin, a miner who went on strike in the eighties. “Hearing about that struggle probably taught me how important it is to value each other,” Alex reflects. “The values of fairness, equality, socialism, trade unionism, and how important all that is to look out for each other.”
Was it hard for Alex to break into the Westminster bubble? “I think it's hard for any woman to break into the Westminster bubble,” she says. “This system was designed for men of a certain stature who come from a certain background, who have an innate privilege. So to be any woman breaking into this place is special and unique.”
She pauses, “It's the people's parliament. Women deserve to be there.” Nevertheless, she still encounters everyday sexism. I ask, what's the biggest misconception about being a woman in politics? “That we're only there to tick a box or fill a quota,” she replies. “You only have to see the breadth of talent we have in the cabinet right now: the first female chancellor, Rachel Reeves; my friend and colleague Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister; Lucy Powell; Shabana Mahmood, our Lord Chancellor; all of these brilliant women who are there on merit, who are absolutely rocking it and working together to improve the lives of everyone in our country.”
These are the women heading to Westminster – but what do they stand for?
While there's currently a record number of female MPs in parliament, Westminister still has a lot of catching up to do. “Whether its working mothers, girls in university or older women who need support, Westminster needs to do more. Westminster needs to speak up for more women,” explains Alex.
The Minister herself is a working mother; something she always wanted but was not guaranteed. In April 2016 she received a letter inviting her to a routine cervical screening. Like many women, she delayed it – until her friends encouraged her to just get it done. Fast-forward a couple of months, Alex had to have an operation to remove potentially pre-cancerous cells from her cervix. The operation was successful, but Alex knew that in the aftermath, “becoming a mother wasn't going to be an easy journey.”
Alex didn't qualify for IVF treatment on the NHS due to the fact her husband has two children from a previous marriage. “I'm a really proud stepmother,” she tells me. “But we also wanted to complete our family and we knew that was going to be difficult.”
“No one enters into IVF easily,” she continues. “And it was a really difficult thing for us all to do. It was probably the most physically, emotionally, mentally demanding thing I've ever done. But I'm really lucky that I've got my wonderful little boy.”
Does she ever experience mum guilt? “Every single day,” Alex replies. "I don't think there is a mother in the country that doesn't experience mum guilt in some form. Every Monday when I have to leave my little boy to come to Westminster to do my job, and every Thursday when I come home to try and pick him up from school, but I sometimes don't make it. It's difficult.
“But I want to show him that his mum is doing something really important and she's standing up for what she believes in and that she can go out to work and it's okay, and that his dad looks after him the rest of the time. And that is normal for us, and that is our normal setup. I make sure that when I'm with him, we have quality time, not quantity of time.”
All your IVF questions, answered.
Still, Alex is determined to get more young women into politics. Her advice? “Do it. Get active. Find something that really interests you, that lights that fire in your belly, that motivates you to do more and to create change. Use that fire, that anger and turn it into something positive because it is honestly the best job in the world.”
Speaking of best jobs in the world, I can't resist asking if Alex envisions a female Labour Prime Minister in the near future. “I'm very happy with the Prime Minister we've got currently,” she starts. “But I absolutely would love to see [a female Labour PM] next. Who knows? It's about having the best person for the job, man or woman in place. But I would love to see a female leader.”
GLAMOUR is campaigning for the government to introduce an Image-Based Abuse Bill in partnership with Jodie Campaigns, the End Violence Against Women Coalition, Not Your Porn, and Professor Clare McGlynn.
For more from Glamour UK's Lucy Morgan, follow her on Instagram @lucyalexxandra.
