[8] From 1985 to 2015, Davis was a partner (now a consultant) in solicitors' firm Freeman Box, Bentinck Street, Marylebone, London, specialising in property law.
[2] As Cabinet Member for Planning he introduced and led on the council's "Design Excellence" campaign to improve the quality of architecture in Westminster.
[13] In July 2014, he was invited by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to become a member of an advisory committee established by the Government to support the erection of a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Trafalgar Square.
[20] In March 2018, following criticism of "the large scale of gifts and hospitality" received by Davis from property developers, he resigned as Deputy Leader of the council and as a Cabinet Member to allow an internal independent inquiry to investigate the issues at his own request.
On 7 March 2018, Davis stood down as deputy leader and as a cabinet member after The Guardian reported into him having received hospitality and gifts over 500 times between 2012 and 2017, much of it from property developers, during the period when he was Chairman of the Planning Committee.
[1] Council rules require that any gifts or hospitality valued at £25 or more must be declared, and Davis's register included trips to Switzerland, France, the US, and Scotland's Gleneagles Hotel and golf resort.
[23] It reported in October 2018, with Sir Stephen Lamport, who was independently overseeing the investigation, finding that Davis had "breached the code of conduct" whilst a councillor, and that his "acceptance of gifts and hospitality from developers before or after a planning decision may ... have placed him in a position in which people might seek to influence him in the performance of his duties."
Davis's official declarations revealed that he was the recipient of tickets to West End shows and invitations to what were described by The Guardian as "exclusive dinners in London's finest restaurants", as well as trips to the south of France.
The Guardian found that Davis received gifts or hospitality from property companies who were involved in half of the planning applications which his committee ruled on in 2016.
[3] He was a director and trustee of the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park from 1986 to 2019, and chairman of the Board between 2009 and 2019, during which time the venue won several theatrical awards, including Oliviers.
The Foundation now runs Silver Sunday, a day held every October to support older people in meeting others by attending one of over 1,200 events throughout the country.
[10] In the 2015 Birthday Honours, he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to planning and local government.
[10][25] His long-term partner (until his death in 2011) was Sir Simon Milton, who had been leader of Westminster City Council and Deputy Mayor of London to Boris Johnson.