David Reed is the Conservative MP for Exmouth and Exeter East, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Reed won 14,728 votes, representing 28.7% of the vote. The Labour Party candidate, Helen Dallimore, received 14,607 votes (28.5%), while the Liberal Democrats candidate, Paul Arnott, secured 11,387 votes (22.2%). Reed was duly elected with a majority of 121.

The Exmouth and Exeter East constituency, newly created ahead of the 2024 general election, is located in Devon in South West England. It was formed primarily from the former East Devon constituency, with parts of the former Exeter and Central Devon constituencies.

The predecessor East Devon seat was held by the Conservative Party from 1997 to 2024.

Political Career

Reed currently serves as a shadow parliamentary under secretary of state, jointly in the Conservative defence and foreign, commonwealth and development affairs teams, and as a senior opposition whip. Reed was confirmed in these roles as part of the August/September 2026 shadow ministerial reshuffle, Kemi Badenoch’s second as Conservative leader.

Reed previously served as an opposition assistant whip (2025-2026) and as a parliamentary private secretary (PPS) in the shadow defence team (2024-2025).

Reed has sat as a member of the House of Commons international development select committee (2024-2026).

Reed has been listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for air ambulances, foreign affairs, the South West and data centres.

Reed delivered his maiden speech on 12 September 2024.

In it, he said: “In an increasingly connected world, I believe our MPs must have a firm understanding of the national and international issues that affect us, and most importantly how these issues affect our constituencies.

“For much of my adult life, I have fought hard in several organisations to keep our United Kingdom safe and prosperous, both in the physical and the digital environment. We are on the precipice of a new industrial revolution.

“Frontier technologies, such as artificial intelligence, supercomputing and nanobiotechnology, will radically change our world and the relationship we have with it.”

He added: “War has broken out across multiple global regions, and we must act without delay to increase defence spending to meet the threats that are clearly present.

“Anthropogenic climate change has long ceased to be purely an academic debate – it is visible and happening now. We must continue to work closely with international partners to reduce our overall global carbon emissions.”

Political views

Leadership elections

Tory leadership 2024: Reed supported Tom Tugendhat’s candidacy in the 2024 Conservative Party leadership election. The contest was triggered by the resignation of Rishi Sunak following the party’s defeat in the 2024 general election. Tugendhat, the then-shadow security minister, was eliminated in the third parliamentary ballot on 8 October 2024 after receiving 20 votes.

In an article for the Daily Express, Reed wrote: “It’s time to ditch the cautious managerialism of the past, and the acceptance that decline is inevitable. To fix this country we need to be bold and audacious.

“Tom has a clear vision to bring back jobs and industry, cut taxes for parents, reform public services and slash immigration.

“He’s a man of his word, and when he sets a mission – he sees it through. His mission is the prosperity of the British people.”

Factional identity and party tradition

Conservative Environment Network: Reed is listed as a member of the Conservative Environment Network (CEN) parliamentary caucus. CEN is an independent forum for conservatives that supports conservation and decarbonisation. It calls for the environment to be given a higher profile at the heart of policy making, describing “biodiversity loss, climate change, and wasteful resource use are threats to our national security”, and promotes “market-based policies” to environmental challenges. Members of its parliamentary caucus, such as Reed, are thought to generally align with the group’s “green” message and environmentalism.

Assisted dying

Reed voted against the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, better known as the assisted dying bill, at both second reading (November 2024) and third reading (June 2025).

Social values and conscience issues

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Reed voted against a backbench amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill that sought to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales in June 2025. The amendment, which was passed by a majority of 242 votes, removed women from the threat of prosecution for ending a pregnancy at any stage. As an issue of conscience, MPs were allowed to vote according to their personal beliefs.

Before Politics

David George Reed was born in Carshalton, south London, in December 1989.

Reed holds a master’s degree in international security from the University of Bristol.

Reed spent seven years in the Royal Marines from 2008 to 2015, serving in multiple conflict zones. He was also part of the Royal Navy Parachute Display Team and was selected for the Team GB Wingsuit Skydiving Squad.

After leaving the military, Reed’s career centred on cyberspace development, including roles in the civil service and at BAE Systems Digital Intelligence.

Reed also held volunteer campaign officer positions within the Conservative Party.

Personal Life

Reed is married.

Trivia

Reed is a former Royal Marine.