Editing Stephen Timms (section)

==Early life and career==
Stephen Timms was born on 29 July 1955 in [[Oldham]], [[Lancashire]], to Ronald James Timms, an engineer, and Margaret Joyce Timms, a teacher.<ref>[http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/guide/seat-profiles/eastham East Ham] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100517090501/http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/guide/seat-profiles/eastham |date=17 May 2010 }} UK Polling Report</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XhMWAQAAIAAJ&q=%22stephen+timms%22+farnborough |title=Dod's parliamentary companion guide ... |access-date=12 November 2010 |isbn=9780905702575 |last1=Passmore |first1=Valerie |year=2005 |publisher=Dod's Parliamentary Companion |archive-date=20 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220320145954/https://books.google.com/books?id=XhMWAQAAIAAJ&q=%22stephen+timms%22+farnborough |url-status=live }}</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">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/labour/7726242/Stephen-Timms-MP-with-the-safest-seat-in-Commons.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100517050502/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/labour/7726242/Stephen-Timms-MP-with-the-safest-seat-in-Commons.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 May 2010 |title=Stephen Timms: MP with the safest seat in Commons |publisher=Telegraph |date=14 May 2010 |access-date=11 November 2010 |location=London}}</ref>

Before entering politics, Timms worked in the [[telecommunications]] industry for 15 years, first for [[Logica]] from 1978 to 1986, and then for [[Ovum Ltd.|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"/>