Representation of Merthyr
Although certainly capable of higher office, S.O. enjoyed the work of a constituency MP and was very much a grassroots politician throughout his career: this undoubtedly reflected his earlier career as a miners' agent and his fundamental interest in the betterment of all his constituents. His interests and speeches at Parliament very much revolved around those that most directly affected his constituents - unemployment, workplace compensation, matters pertaining to Wales and to Merthyr.
How did Davies represent Merthyr in Parliament?
At Parliament, Davies frequently spoke about his constituency, Merthyr, and the challenges that faced all that lived there:
"The constituency from which I come has a population of about 70,000, and there are 13,000 able-bodied men in the ranks of the unemployed there. Industrially that constituency has a history which is second to none. All around can still be seen vestiges of the days when the industrial revolution expressed itself in a considerable scale in the heavy industries. For several generations that constituency made a tremendous contribution towards the industrialisation of this country and of many parts of the world; but during the last ten years we have seen collieries there close down, we have seen great iron and steel works which have figured so magnificently in the iron and steel industry close down […]"