Stephen Timms was first elected Labour MP for East Ham (formerly Newham North East) in a 1994 by-election, having been reelected in 2019 with a majority of 33,176.
The East Ham constituency in the London Borough of Newham is one of the safest Labour seats in England. The seat spreads northwards from the River Thames and contains the areas of Becton, East Ham, Manor Park, the Royal Docks, and Boleyn. The Silverton area along the Docklands Light Railway has seen some regeneration in recent years, and London City Airport can be found here. White voters comprise just a quarter of the electorate in this constituency, and this is one of the most ethnically diverse seats in Britain. There is a large black community and over half of the electorate are over Asian descent.
Sir Stephen Timms is currently the Chairman of the Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee. He was knighted in the June 2022 honours list.
Timms served as Financial Secretary to the Treasury in the last Labour government between 2008 and 2010.
Sir Stephen Timms was born in 1955 and was educated at Farnborough Grammar School before reading mathematics at Emmanuel College, Cambridge.
Before entering Parliament, Stephen Timms worked in the telecommunications industry for 15 years, first for Logica and then for Ovum. He managed Ovum’s telecommunications reports business until becoming an MP.
Timms was elected to Newham Council in 1984 and chaired the planning committee from 1987 to 1990 before serving as Leader of the Council from 1990 to 1994.
Timms was seriously injured in 2010 when he was stabbed in the abdomen by an Islamic terrorist whilst conducting a constituency surgery. His attacker, Roshonara Choudhry, was given a life sentence. He has received letters from his attacker, but has said he cannot forgive her unless they had face-to-face contact.
On the right of the Labour Party, Sir Stephen supported Liz Kendall in the 2015 Labour leadership election, and Owen Smith in his 2016 challenge to Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour leadership. He backed Sir Keir Starmer in the 2020 content.
Stephen Timms is Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Crossrail; Extraordinary rendition; Faith and Society; Immigration law and policy. He is Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Motorsport; Religion in the Media; Social Mobility; Taxation; Germany; Trade out of Poverty; Lithuania; Romania; Singapore; Building Communities; the Council of Sri Lankan Muslim Organisations; Data Analytics; Financial Markets and Services; Financial Technology; Infant Feeding; Homelessness; and Gambling Related Harm.
Sir Stephen Timms enjoys walking and is a member of the Ramblers Association. He is an evangelical Christian and the former Chair of Christians on the Left.
Email: timmss@parliament.uk
Personal Website: http://www.stephentimms.org.uk/
Twitter: twitter.com/stephenctimms
