Member of Parliament
Sir Mel Stride
Conservative MP for Central Devon
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
At a glanceSir Mel Stride is a Conservative MP for Central Devon, and has represented the seat for 16 years, 2 months. They currently serve as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer. They have cast 320 votes in Commons divisions (56% attendance), tabled 131 written questions and registered 20 financial interests.
Attendance is votes cast as a share of the 575 Commons divisions since the 2024 election; Sir Mel Stride did not vote in 255. A rebellion is a vote against the way most of their own party voted; free votes, where no party line applies, are left out.
Party-loyalty figures are our own analysis of the official voting records (recorded votes only; they do not describe the formal whip). How we work this out.
Biography
He currently undertakes the role of Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Current roles
- Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Opposition post · HM Treasury since 4 Nov 2024
- Central Devon Representation · Elected 1 time since 4 Jul 2024
- Conservative Party since 6 May 2010
Voting record
Voting alignment
Votes most like
-
James Cartlidge
Conservative
100.0% · 293 of 293 shared votes
-
Mark Garnier
Conservative
100.0% · 271 of 271 shared votes
-
James Wild
Conservative
100.0% · 268 of 268 shared votes
-
Chris Philp
Conservative
100.0% · 245 of 245 shared votes
-
Victoria Atkins
Conservative
100.0% · 238 of 238 shared votes
Votes least like
-
Angela Rayner
Labour
0.0% · 0 of 165 shared votes
-
Nick Thomas-Symonds
Labour
0.0% · 0 of 121 shared votes
-
Shabana Mahmood
Labour
0.0% · 0 of 78 shared votes
-
Mr David Lammy
Labour
0.0% · 0 of 64 shared votes
-
Ms Julie Minns
Labour
0.4% · 1 of 281 shared votes
Alignment figures are our own analysis of the official voting records (recorded votes only; they do not describe the formal whip). How we work this out.
Register of financial interests
From the official Register; shown as registered.
Donations and other support (including loans) for activities as an MP12
- Andrew Dawber - £5,000.00 (registered 8 Jul 2026)
- John Ruskin - £5,000.00 (registered 8 Jul 2026)
- John Ruskin - £897.00 (registered 8 Jul 2026)
- Paddy Nicoll - £10,000.00 (registered 19 May 2026)
- Paddy Nicoll - £897.00 (registered 19 May 2026)
- Brechin Investment Ltd - £1,514.00 (registered 7 May 2026)
- Joy Dawber - £1,514.00 (registered 30 Apr 2026)
- Andrew Dawber - £1,483.00 (registered 30 Apr 2026)
- IPGL Limited - £2,000.00 (registered 10 Feb 2026)
- Susan Green - £2,000.00 (registered 10 Feb 2026)
- J. C. Bamford Excavators Limited - £25,000.00 (registered 20 Nov 2025)
- Graham Edwards - £4,000.00 (registered 30 Sep 2025)
Gifts, benefits and hospitality from UK sources5
- Hakluyt - £550.00 (registered 29 Jun 2026)
- British Asian Trust - £2,000.00 (registered 24 Jun 2026)
- The Conservative Party Foundation - £600.00 (registered 26 May 2026)
- Lloyds Banking Group PLC - £1,839.00 (registered 26 May 2026)
- Kensington, Bayswater, Chelsea & Fulham Conservatives - £340.00 (registered 18 Dec 2025)
Visits outside the UK1
- International visit to United States between 06 September 2025 and 10 September 2025 (registered 30 Sep 2025)
Shareholdings1
- Shares in Venture Marketing Group Ltd
Miscellaneous1
- Honorary Fellowship awarded by St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford. This is an unpaid role. (registered 7 Nov 2025)
Written questions
Universal Credit
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of work coach appointments with Universal Credit claimants are conducted a) in person, b) online and c) on the telephone.
Awaiting an answer from the Department for Work and Pensions.
Pre-school Education: Expenditure
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of spending on the Early Learning for 2 year olds scheme is for non-working families.
Awaiting an answer from the Department for Education.
Pre-school Education: Expenditure
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much of the spending on the Early Learning for 2 year olds scheme is accounted for by (a) families entitled via eligibility for certain benefits (b) families entitled because the child has an Education, Hea
Answer · 15 Jul 2026
The latest dedicated schools grant allocations for the early years entitlements over the past five years can be found here: https://skillsfunding.service.gov.uk/view-latest-funding/.The 3 and 4-year-old working parent entitlement, the 2-year-old working p...
Pre-school Education: Expenditure
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much was spent on the Early Learning for 2 year olds scheme in each of the last five financial years for which data is available.
Answer · 15 Jul 2026
The latest dedicated schools grant allocations for the early years entitlements over the past five years can be found here: https://skillsfunding.service.gov.uk/view-latest-funding/.The 3 and 4-year-old working parent entitlement, the 2-year-old working p...
Childcare: Fees and Charges
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the level of spending was on the 15 hours free childcare offer in each of the last five financial years for which data is available, broken down by a. working and b. non-working parents.
Answer · 15 Jul 2026
The latest dedicated schools grant allocations for the early years entitlements over the past five years can be found here: https://skillsfunding.service.gov.uk/view-latest-funding/.The 3 and 4-year-old working parent entitlement, the 2-year-old working p...
Childcare: Fees and Charges
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her speech to Ruskin College on 8 July 2026, whether the expansion of the 30 hours free childcare entitlement to non-working parents is government policy.
Awaiting an answer from the Department for Education.
Childcare: Fees and Charges
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the expansion of the 30 hours free childcare entitlement to non-working parents.
Awaiting an answer from the Department for Education.
Childcare: Fees and Charges
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her speech to Ruskin College on 8 July 2026, what estimate her Department has made of the annual cost to the public purse of extending 30 hours free childcare eligibility to non-working parent
Awaiting an answer from the Department for Education.
Speeches in the chamber
23 Jun 2026 Topical Questions
The right hon. Lady cannot bring herself to answer the simple question I asked. I will tell her: she is borrowing one quarter of a trillion pounds more than the plans that she inherited—that is her legacy. We hear that the right hon. Membe…
23 Jun 2026 Topical Questions
Given all that is going on, this could be the last time. The legacy of this Chancellor has been the highest taxes on record, a benefits bill spiralling out of control, and unemployment 300,000 higher than it was at the last general electio…
21 May 2026 Middle East: Economic Response
I thank the Chancellor for advance sight of her statement—although the press, of course, got even more advanced sight of it. The decision taken to cancel the increase in fuel duty is welcome—it has been a long time coming. The Conservat…
21 May 2026 Costs for Motorists
May I begin by agreeing with you, Mr Speaker, and saying how disrespectful it is that this U-turn on fuel duty has already been released to the media earlier this week? The news was plastered across national newspapers on Monday, and yeste…
21 May 2026 Costs for Motorists
(Urgent Question): To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if she will make a statement on the Government’s plan for costs for motorists.
18 May 2026 Backing Business to Create Economic Growth
I am afraid that what I see coming is what is already baked in: business rates going through the roof. In some cases, small businesses on our high streets are facing 140% increases in the amount they have to pay in business rates. Conse…
18 May 2026 Backing Business to Create Economic Growth
Briefly.
18 May 2026 Backing Business to Create Economic Growth
I do indeed. I have been up to Aberdeen, met my hon. Friend and heard at first hand about the economic effect this is having. It is utter madness. If we have an opportunity in government, we will put that right. I have already mentioned…
18 May 2026 Backing Business to Create Economic Growth
That is a rather unfortunate example of doubling down or continuing to dig, if I may say so. Also, the hon. Lady’s comments pale in comparison with Andy Burnham’s comments in the New Statesman, where he said: “We’ve got to go beyond thi…
18 May 2026 Backing Business to Create Economic Growth
I am always ready to give way, Mr Speaker, and to take your direction.
18 May 2026 Backing Business to Create Economic Growth
I will in a moment.
18 May 2026 Backing Business to Create Economic Growth
The current account went into a slight surplus just around 2015-16. [Interruption.] It did, actually. That was on the back of our inheriting a £160 billion deficit in 2010, which was over 10% of GDP—another example of the disasters of a La…
18 May 2026 Backing Business to Create Economic Growth
All these flashbacks to the 1980s are a slightly desperate attempt to get away from the 2020s, I think. The other thing that socialists love to do is borrow, borrow, borrow, and spend, spend, spend until they have run out of other peopl…
18 May 2026 Backing Business to Create Economic Growth
That is entirely right. The Conservatives know that work matters, and getting people off benefits matters. People’s mental health is improved by going to work, and by having the social interaction, routine and sense of pride and self-worth…
18 May 2026 Backing Business to Create Economic Growth
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I have had the great pleasure of visiting her constituency to speak to businesses, and that is exactly what they complain of. The Government made no effort, in the King’s Speech, to get on top of the ben…
18 May 2026 Backing Business to Create Economic Growth
My hon. Friend is entirely right. It is like trying to apply the accelerator while having the brake on fully. That is what this Government are doing. That is the total illogicality of their approach. Inflation is up on where it was unde…
18 May 2026 Backing Business to Create Economic Growth
As I will come on to argue, our problems actually rest a little closer to home, rather than having anything to do with our relationship with the European Union. The Labour party promised stability. It also—Members should try not to laug…
18 May 2026 Backing Business to Create Economic Growth
This King’s Speech is an empty vessel, which is a surprise, because only last week the Prime Minister was telling anybody who cared to listen that the Government would be leaning into economic growth in a more radical way, and would eschew…
28 Apr 2026 Topical Questions
The right hon. Lady does not seem to know how much additional borrowing this Government are undertaking compared with the plans of the last Government, so I will tell her: it is one quarter of a trillion pounds of additional borrowing acr…
28 Apr 2026 Topical Questions
In response to the question from my right hon. Friend the Member for Godalming and Ash (Sir Jeremy Hunt) on borrowing, the right hon. Lady suggested that she was following a strict deficit reduction plan. I think she made reference to a re…
Source: contributions on parliament.uk.
Full parliamentary career
Government posts
- Secretary of State for Work and Pensions · Department for Work and Pensions 25 Oct 2022 – 5 Jul 2024
- Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons · Office of the Leader of the House of Commons 23 May 2019 – 24 Jul 2019
- Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General · HM Treasury 12 Jun 2017 – 23 May 2019
- Comptroller (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons) · HM Household 18 Jul 2016 – 12 Jun 2017
- Lord Commissioner (HM Treasury) (Whip) · HM Treasury 13 May 2015 – 17 Jul 2016
- Assistant Whip (HM Treasury) · HM Treasury 15 Jul 2014 – 30 Mar 2015
Opposition posts
- Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions · Department for Work and Pensions 8 Jul 2024 – 4 Nov 2024
Committee memberships
- Treasury Sub-Committee on Financial Services Regulations · Chair 20 Jun 2022 – 26 Oct 2022
- Liaison Committee (Commons) 20 May 2020 – 25 Oct 2022
- Treasury Committee · Chair 27 Jan 2020 – 25 Oct 2022
- Cultural Objects (Protection From Seizure) Bill 9 Nov 2021 – 17 Nov 2021
- Liaison Committee (Commons) 23 Oct 2019 – 6 Nov 2019
- Treasury Committee · Chair 23 Oct 2019 – 6 Nov 2019
- Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority 23 May 2019 – 6 Nov 2019
- House of Commons Commission 23 May 2019 – 6 Nov 2019
- Public Accounts Commission 23 May 2019 – 24 Jul 2019
- Northern Ireland Affairs Committee 26 Jul 2010 – 28 Nov 2011
Previous seats
- Central Devon · Elected 4 times 6 May 2010 – 30 May 2024
Expenses
Contact & offices
020 7219 7037
Parliamentary office
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about Sir Mel Stride, answered from official Parliament data.
Who is Sir Mel Stride?
Sir Mel Stride is a Member of Parliament representing Central Devon in the House of Commons. See Sir Mel Stride's official Parliament profile.
Which party does Sir Mel Stride represent?
Sir Mel Stride sits as Conservative. See Sir Mel Stride's official Parliament profile.
Which constituency does Sir Mel Stride represent?
Sir Mel Stride is the Member of Parliament for Central Devon. See Sir Mel Stride's official Parliament profile.
How long has Sir Mel Stride been an MP?
Sir Mel Stride has served in the House of Commons for 16 years, 2 months. See Sir Mel Stride's official Parliament profile.
What registered interests are listed for Sir Mel Stride?
Sir Mel Stride has 20 entries in the Register of Members' Financial Interests. See Sir Mel Stride's official Parliament profile.
Source: this MP's official Parliament profile. Last updated 26 Jul 2026.