Stephen Timms

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Timms served in the New Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown under several portfolios. He served for three periods as Financial Secretary to the Treasury; from 1999 to 2001, 2004 to 2005, and 2008 to 2010. As Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Timms attended Cabinet from 2006 to 2007.

In May 2010, Timms survived an attempted murder by Islamist terrorist Roshonara Choudhry who stabbed him twice in the abdomen at his constituency surgery. Choudhry was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Timms served on the Official Opposition frontbench as Shadow Minister for Employment, and later served in the Shadow cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. He returned to the backbenches in September 2015.

Early life and careerEdit

Stephen Timms was born on 29 July 1955 in Oldham, Lancashire, to Ronald James Timms, an engineer, and Margaret Joyce Timms, a teacher.<ref>East Ham Template:Webarchive UK Polling Report</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> He was educated at Farnborough Grammar School in Farnborough, Hampshire, before studying mathematics at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he gained a degree in mathematics in 1977 and an MPhil in operational research in 1978.<ref name="telegraph1">Template:Cite news</ref>

Before entering politics, Timms worked in the telecommunications industry for 15 years, first for Logica from 1978 to 1986, and then for Ovum from 1986 to 1994, where he worked as a manager responsible for producing reports on the future of telecommunications. He was elected as a councillor for the Little Ilford Ward on Newham London Borough Council in a by-election in 1984, and served as Leader of the Council from 1990 to 1994.<ref name="telegraph1"/>

Parliamentary careerEdit

At the 1994 Newham North East by-election, Timms was elected to Parliament as MP for Newham North East with 75% of the vote and a majority of 11,838.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Prior to the 1997 general election, Timms' constituency of Newham North East was abolished, and replaced with East Ham. At the election, Timms was elected to Parliament as MP for East Ham with 64.6% of the vote and a majority of 19,358.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Timms served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Andrew Smith from May 1997 to March 1998, and later to Mo Mowlam from March to July 1998.<ref name="Parliament-career">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 1998, Timms was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Social Security, rising to Minister of State in that department in 1999.<ref name="Parliament-career" />

At the 2001 general election, Timms was re-elected as MP for East Ham with an increased vote share of 73.1% and an increased majority of 21,032.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was again re-elected at the 2005 general election, with a decreased vote share of 53.9% and a decreased majority of 13,155.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In May 2006, Timms was promoted to the Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, a post in which he remained until 28 June 2007, when he was removed from the cabinet by new prime minister Gordon Brown.<ref name="telegraph1" /> It was later announced that he had been appointed Minister of State for Competitiveness at the newly created Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

Following a government reshuffle on 24 January 2008, Timms moved to the Department for Work and Pensions, and became Minister for Employment and Welfare Reform.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On 3 October 2008, Timms returned to his former role as Financial Secretary to the Treasury.<ref name="telegraph1"/>

In August 2009, Timms was given additional responsibility for Digital Britain.<ref>Timms to lead 'Digital Britain' Template:Webarchive, BBC News, 6 August 2009</ref> In September 2009, he announced plans for a tax of £6 per year to be levied on each phone account in the UK. At the time, this was characterised as a stealth tax in the media. In April 2010, Timms' department made an embarrassing slip when a letter purporting to be from him mistakenly identified IP address as "intellectual property address".<ref>Minister for Digital Britain blunders in embarrassing 'IP' slip-up Template:Webarchive, MediaWeek, 9 April 2010</ref> According to the accountants' magazine Accountancy Age, he was highly regarded by finance professionals despite such gaffes.<ref>Accountants storm the Treasury Template:Webarchive, Accountancy Age, 14 May 2010</ref>

At the 2010 general election, Timms was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 70.4% and an increased majority of 27,826.<ref>Statement of Persons Nominated Template:Webarchive, Newham Council</ref>

In February 2013 Timms abstained on the second reading of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Edwards 2013">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Sparrow 2013">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Subsequently, in May 2013 he voted against the bill's third and final reading, opposing the legalisation of same-sex marriage within England and Wales.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Timms was again re-elected at the 2015 general election with an increased vote share of 77.6% and an increased majority of 34,252.<ref name="electoralcalculus">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Following the 2015 Labour leadership election, he was offered a junior shadow Treasury position by new leader Jeremy Corbyn but chose to turn it down and return to the backbenches.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Timms supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 Labour leadership election.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

At the snap 2017 general election, Timms was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 83.2% and an increased majority of 39,883.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was again re-elected at the 2019 general election, with a decreased vote share of 76.3% and a decreased majority of 33,176.<ref name="Statement of persons nominated">https://www.newham.gov.uk/Documents/Council%20and%20Democracy/StatementOfPersonsNominatedAndNoticeOfPollEastHam.pdf Template:Dead link</ref>

In April 2021, Timms praised the work of the controversial Jesus House Church on Twitter.<ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref> His tweet came after an official apology from Labour leader Keir Starmer, who had admitted it had been a "mistake" to film a promotional video at the church when it had come to light that the pastor of the church, Agu Irukwu, had previously opposed same sex marriage and equality legislation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> LGBT+ Labour said they were "disappointed" to see Timms' tweet so soon after Starmer's apology, after Timms was criticised for supporting the "anti-LGBTQ+" church.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On 23 August 2021, Prime Minister Boris Johnson appointed Timms as the UK's trade envoy to Switzerland and Liechtenstein.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>

Timms was knighted in the 2022 Birthday Honours for political and public service.<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref>

At the 2024 general election, Timms was again re-elected with a decreased vote share of 51.6% and a decreased majority of 12,863.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Murder attemptEdit

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On 14 May 2010, Timms was approached by 21-year-old female Islamist extremist Roshonara Choudhry, during a constituency surgery at the Beckton Globe Library in Kingsford Way in Beckton.<ref>Woman charged with attempted murder of Labour MP Template:Webarchive, The Times, 15 May 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2010.</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Choudhry stabbed Timms twice in the abdomen with a 15cm (6-inch) kitchen knife, before being disarmed.<ref>Woman, 21, arrested over stabbing of Labour MP Template:Webarchive, The Independent, 15 May 2010</ref> She stated that she had been influenced by watching sermons of Anwar al-Awlaki, a leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and that her attack was to punish Timms for voting for the Iraq War, and seek revenge for the Iraqi people.<ref name=youtube-withdraws>YouTube Withdraws Cleric's Videos Template:Webarchive, The New York Times, 4 November 2010</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>HEGGHAMMER, T., NESSER, P.. Assessing the Islamic State's Commitment to Attacking the West. Perspectives on Terrorism, North America, 9, jul. 2015. Available at: <http://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php/pot/article/view/440 Template:Webarchive>. Date accessed: 7 June 2017.</ref>

He suffered "potentially life-threatening" wounds, including lacerations to his liver and a perforation to his stomach.<ref name=bbc3nov>Template:Cite news</ref> Timms underwent emergency surgery at the Royal London Hospital, from which he was discharged on 19 May.<ref>MP Stephen Timms discharged from London hospital Template:Webarchive, BBC News, 19 May 2010</ref>

On 2 November 2010, Choudhry was found guilty of Timms' attempted murder. She was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 15 years.<ref name="bbc3nov"/> After the court case, Timms said he was not bitter, but that forgiveness was not possible because his attacker showed no remorse. He has since sought the banning of incendiary material on popular internet sites "to protect other vulnerable young people from going down the same road."<ref name=not-bitter>Stephen Timms: I don't feel bitter but I'm not ready to forgive my knife attacker Template:Webarchive, Evening Standard, 4 November 2010. Retrieved 4 November 2010.</ref> YouTube removed some videos of al-Awlaki within hours of the sentence.<ref name=youtube-withdraws/><ref name=not-bitter/>

Following the 2021 murder of David Amess, Timms said in parliament that he would like to meet Choudhry, so "he can finally forgive her".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Personal lifeEdit

Timms is an evangelical Christian.<ref>Labour Party: Faith groups Template:Webarchive. Retrieved 1 November 2010.</ref><ref>Tory backlash against same-sex marriage Template:Webarchive, The Guardian, 10 December 2012 (retrieved 10 December 2012)</ref> He is passionate about Christians entering politics and is a keen supporter of Just Love, a social justice movement working with Christian students.<ref>Christians can help to rebuild confidence in politics – Stephen Timms MP Template:Webarchive, Christian Today, 2 March 2021 (retrieved 3 March 2021)</ref> He has lived in the London Borough of Newham since 1979, and has been married to Hui-Leng Lim since 1986.<ref name=not-bitter/>

NotesEdit

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