The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 2 plus 6 letter word MY FRIEND
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
M
Y
F
R
I
E
N
D
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "surely not David!" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case surely not david! = my friend.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.