Owl frequently features Richard Foord MP’s contributions to parliamentary debates, most recently when he led a debate on farming, but seldom those from David Reed MP.

However, since David Reed has just put his head above the parapet, Owl thought it opportune to review the record and compare both these two local MPs.

Richard Foord won the by-election for Tiverton and Honiton in July 2022 following the resignation of “tractor porn” Neil Parish. He was then elected as MP for the new constituency of Honiton and Sidmouth in the July 2024 general election.

David Reed was elected as MP for the new constituency of Exmouth and Exeter East in the 2024 general election. 

Richard Foord has, therefore, been in parliament two years longer. In that time he has made 634 spoken contributions; 321 since July 2024.

In comparison David Reed scored only 113 (a third of Richard Foord’s tally for the same period)

Richard Foord also far outstrips David Reed on tabling early day motions in the same period: 240 to 5. 

With political turmoil at home and instability abroad, what prompted David Reed to speak out this week? 

What does he really think is bugging his constituents? Cost of living? NHS? Housing? Regional inequality?

Nope – none of these, it’s something a little bit more personal.

Adjournment debate 13 May

David Reed Opposition Assistant Whip (Commons)

“Like many other Members, I am exhausted by dealing with the Liberal Democrats on East Devon district council and Devon county council. They seem completely unaccountable, so can I ask the Ministers directly what can be done to make local government more accountable for the adoptions of roads?”

To which the Minister,  Matthew Pennycook, replied with the following put down:

I would refer the hon. Gentleman in the first instance to that CMA house building report, which says very clearly that a twin-track approach is needed. We need common adoptable standards. Only at the point that we have common standards can we force local authorities to adopt. I understand, as I know many hon. Members do, the dilemma that local authorities can face when they have substandard amenities and are asked to adopt them and incur all the costs of bringing them up to the necessary standard, as well as the cost of their ongoing maintenance.

Who was David Reed speaking on behalf of?

Post Script: David Reed’s lacklustre performance highlighted in local press.

Three days ago, DevonLive reported on “How Devon’s newest MPs compare in ‘leaderboard’ rankings”, counting both written and speaking contributions.

This new parliamentary activity report for 2025 has ranked a Devon MP in the top three for contributions made by new MPs elected for the first time in 2024.

Newton Abbot’s Liberal Democrat MP Martin Wrigley is in third place of 333 new MPs for his tally of combined spoken contributions and written questions, according to the political monitoring service PoliMonitor UK.

Where did David Reed come? 229th

Just in front of Fred Thomas (Labour, Plymouth Moorview) at 267th , bottom of the list in Devon, and just behind Steve Race (Labour, Exeter ) in 198th position.

Oh dear! Must try harder – Owl