Sir David was introduced to ballet by his soon to be wife in the 1970s and has been hooked ever since. He became a Royal Ballet Governor in 2013 and Chair of Birmingham Royal Ballet in 2018.

David was a civil servant for 37 years, working in the fields of employment, education, criminal justice and counter-terrorism.

Between 2001 and 2011 he was Permanent Secretary, first in the Department for Education and then in the Home Office. After, he held the joint public appointments of First Civil Service Commissioner and Commissioner for Public Appointments. He was a trustee of the NSPCC and a member of the Advisory Committee of Westminster Abbey. He currently chairs the governing Council at the University of Warwick.