David Simmonds is the Conservative MP for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner, having first been elected to parliament at the 2019 general election. 

In the 2024 general election, Simmonds won 21,366 votes, representing 45.4% of the vote. The Labour candidate, Tony Gill, received 13,785 votes (29.3%), while the Reform UK candidate, Ian Price, secured 4,671 votes (9.9%). Simmonds was duly elected with a majority of 7,581 votes.  

The Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner constituency is located in North West London, covering parts of the London Boroughs of Hillingdon and Harrow. It is considered a safe Conservative seat.

Political Career

Simmonds currently serves as shadow minister of state for housing, communities and local government and a senior opposition whip. He was confirmed in these roles as part of the August/September 2026 shadow ministerial reshuffle, Kemi Badenoch’s second as Conservative leader.

Simmonds was initially appointed as a shadow housing minister in July 2024 to serve on the interim/caretaker frontbench constructed by Rishi Sunak following the general election of that year. He was retained in this post after Kemi Badenoch’s election as leader in November 2024.

Simmonds has also served as a senior opposition whip since July 2024.

In May 2022, Simmonds called on Boris Johnson to resign as prime minister over the Partygate scandal. The intervention followed the release of Sue Gray’s report into reported lockdown gatherings in Downing Street and Whitehall.

In a statement at the time, Simmonds said: “I listened to what the prime minister had to say at prime minister’s questions, his statement and the 1922 committee yesterday following the publication of the Sue Gray report.

“Having reflected on what he said, and the views of constituents and my Conservative Association, it is clear that while the government and our policies enjoy the confidence of the public, the prime minister does not.

“Accordingly, it is time for him to step down so that new leadership can take forward the important work of the government in ensuring that our people and country prosper.”

In June 2022, following the unsuccessful no-confidence vote in Johnson’s leadership of the Conservative Party, Simmonds added: “We must work to restore the integrity of the government, so that we can continue to drive our legislative agenda and to support the most vulnerable from the cost of living crisis that we face as a nation.”

Simmonds was elected to the influential executive of the 1922 committee of Conservative backbenchers in July 2022.

Simmonds was a member of the human rights (joint committee) (2021-2024), the House of Commons finance committee (2020-2024), and the education committee (2020-2021).

Simmonds is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for British Jews, heritage rail and migration.

Simmonds delivered his maiden speech on 9 January 2020 during a debate on the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill.

In it, he said: “For the past decade, I have had the privilege of leading the national work across local government on the resettlement into the United Kingdom of refugees and, in particular, child refugees, alongside politicians from all the nations of the United Kingdom and representing all the political parties that are found in those nations.

“Over that period, we have seen more than a doubling in the arrival rates of child refugees into the care of local authorities, and we have seen our government play an ever more active role alongside the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, with schemes such as the vulnerable persons relocation scheme from Syria and the vulnerable children’s relocation scheme.”

Before entering parliament, Simmonds had an extensive career in local government. He served as a Conservative councillor on Hillingdon London Borough Council from 1998 to 2022.

Simmonds was deputy leader of the council from 2002 to 2020. He held prominent roles at the Local Government Association (LGA), including chair of the children and young people board (2011-2015), chair of the asylum and refugee task group and deputy chairman of the LGA (2015-2020).

Simmonds was awarded a CBE in 2015.  

Political views

Leadership elections and loyalty

Tory leadership 2022 (I): Simmonds supported Rishi Sunak’s candidacy in the Conservative Party’s July-September 2022 leadership election. The contest was triggered by the resignation of Boris Johnson, following the mass exodus of more than 60 frontbenchers.

Sunak, the former chancellor, warned against “comforting fairytales” regarding unfunded tax cuts. Although he won every round of the parliamentary ballots, securing 137 votes in the final stage, Sunak was defeated by Liz Truss in the membership vote, finishing with 60,399 votes (42.6%).

Tory leadership 2022 (II): Simmonds again supported Sunak’s candidacy in the Conservative Party’s October 2022 leadership election. The contest was triggered by the resignation of Liz Truss after just 45 days in office, following the financial and political tailspin triggered by her “mini-budget”.

Sunak, the former chancellor, had finished second to Truss in the previous contest. Unlike the summer contest, this election featured an expedited process requiring each candidate to secure at least 100 nominations from MPs to proceed. Sunak, having emerged as the clear frontrunner, was declared leader of the Conservative Party unopposed on 24 October.

Factional identity and party tradition

Conservative Environment Network: Simmonds 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 Simmonds, are thought to generally align with the group’s “green” message and environmentalism.

Bright Blue: Simmonds sits on the advisory council of Bright Blue, an independent centre-right think tank and membership organisation that champions liberal conservatism in the UK. Since its founding in 2014, the organisation has expanded its reach through a new cross-party strategy.

Assisted dying

Simmonds 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): Simmonds 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 Timothy Simmonds was born in Kent in 1976.

He attended Cardinal Newman RC School in Pontypridd. He studied at Durham University and later gained a postgraduate certificate from Birkbeck, University of London.  

He qualified with the Chartered Institute of Insurers (CII) in 1997 and worked in financial services for several high street banks before focusing on his political career.

He also served as a magistrate in North West London.  

Personal Life

Simmonds is married to an NHS doctor. They have two children.

Trivia

Simmonds became London’s youngest councillor when elected in 1998.

Simmonds ran the London marathon in 2022 in support of the Paul Strickland Scanner Centre and the William Low Trust, two charities based in his constituency