Olympic hero Sharron Davies dives into her new job on the Lords
Former Olympic swimmer and women’s rights campaigner Sharron Davies has taken her seat in the House of Lords.
The silver medallist, who has been a prominent critic of transgender athletes being able to compete in women’s sport, was nominated for a life peerage by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch.
Baroness Davies of Devonport takes her title from an area of Plymouth where she was born.
The Conservative peer wore the traditional scarlet robes for the ceremony in the Lords yesterday, where she swore allegiance to the King.
She was supported by Paralympic champion and independent crossbencher Baroness Grey-Thompson and Tory peer Lord Young of Acton, the director of the Free Speech Union.
Lady Davies’ international swimming career spanned three decades. Having swum for Britain at the age of 11 she was selected for the 1976 Montreal Olympics at 13.
The twice Commonwealth champion retired in 1994 after breaking more than 200 British records.
She went on to enjoy a TV career and is director of the Women’s Sports Union, which champions fair and safe sport for women and girls.
Baroness Sharron Davies (pictured) has taken her seat in the Lords after being nominated for a peerage by Kemi Badenoch
The Olympic silver medalist (pictured on a diving board years ago) has been a prominent critic of transgender athletes being able to compete in women’s sport
How should sports balance fairness for women with inclusion for transgender athletes?
In April 2024 she claimed ‘100s of males are stealing from females in sport’ after a trans cyclist won a bronze medal in a race in the United States. At the time, she said it was ‘disgusting sexism’.
Baroness Davies said she had been ‘cancelled’ for her stance on transgender women competing in sport and faced financial and reputational ruin in 2019.
But now she vows to bring ‘common sense’ to the Lords and will push and push to get more girls into sport.
In December, he told the Mail: ‘I’m pragmatic about how. We used to lose girls at 14, now it’s at 11. We have to find ways of getting them back.
‘If it’s because they don’t want to do muddy cross country, we need to look at bringing in Zumba teachers and hairdryers in changing rooms.’
She also spoke kindly of Mrs Badenoch and how they first met: ‘I first got to know her when she was Equalities Minister and what struck me was how hard she was working behind the scenes.
‘She always had time to listen to me. I’d speak to her maybe twice or three times a month and she always took my call.’
Discussing what she will do with her power as a peer, she said that she would be able to go after those ‘who don’t want to look into my eyes and say “Yes, we are letting women in sport down”.’
