Stephen Timms

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The Rt Hon Stephen Timms
Stephen Timms
In office
28 June 2007 – 24 January 2008
Prime Minister Gordon Brown
Preceded by Malcolm Wicks
Succeeded by TBA
In office
5 May 2006 – 28 June 2007
Prime Minister Tony Blair
Preceded by Des Browne
Succeeded by Andy Burnham
In office
12 September 2004 – 6 May 2005
Preceded by Ruth Kelly
Succeeded by John Healey
In office
29 July 1999 – 8 June 2001
Preceded by Barbara Roche
Succeeded by Paul Boateng
Member of Parliament
for East Ham
In office
2 May 1997 – present
Preceded by New Constituency
Majority 13,155 (33.2%)
Member of Parliament
for Newham North East
In office
9 June 1994 – 2 May 1997
Preceded by Ron Leighton
Succeeded by Constituency Abolished
Born July 29, 1955 (1955-07-29) (age 52)
Flag of England Oldham, Lancashire, UK
Political party Labour

Stephen Creswell Timms (born 29 July 1955, Oldham, Lancashire) is a politician in the United Kingdom and is currently Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform at the Department for Work and Pensions. He is Labour Party member of Parliament for East Ham, and was first elected in a by-election in 1994. He is also Vice Chair of the Labour Party with responsibility for Faith Groups.

Contents

[edit] Early Life

Timms was educated at Farnborough Grammar School and read Mathematics at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Before entering politics, Timms worked in the telecommunications industry for 15 years, first for Logica and then for Ovum, where he was the manager responsible for producing reports on the future of telecommunications. He was married in 1986, and has lived in the East London Borough of Newham since 1979.

Timms was elected as a councillor on Newham Council in a by-election in 1984 and served as Leader of the Council from 1990 to 1994.

[edit] Member of Parliament

In 1994 he was elected to Parliament as MP for Newham North East; for the next election, his constituency was merged with part of Newham South, and in 1997 he was elected MP for the resulting new constituency of East Ham.

[edit] In government

He served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Andrew Smith from May 1997 to March 1998, and to Mo Mowlam from March to July 1998.

In 1998 Timms was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Social Security, rising to Minister of State in that department the following year. He went on to serve as as Minister of State for E-Commerce and Competitiveness and Minister of State for Energy, E-Commerce and Postal Services at the Department of Trade and Industry; Minister of State for School Standards at the Department for Education and Skills; Minister of State for Pensions at the Department for Work and Pensions; and has twice served as Financial Secretary to the Treasury, from 1999 to 2001 and September 2004 to May 2005.

In May 2006 he was promoted to the Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, serving until June 28 2007, when he was dropped from the cabinet by new Prime Minister Gordon Brown. 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 the government reshuffle on January 24, 2008 as a result of the resignation of Peter Hain, Timms moved to the Department for Work and Pensions to become Minister for Employment and Welfare Reform.

[edit] Personal Life

He describes himself as a "Christian Socialist".

[edit] See also

[edit] External links


Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Ron Leighton		 Member of Parliament for Newham North East
1994–1997		 Succeeded by
constituency abolished
Preceded by
new constituency		 Member of Parliament for East Ham
1997 – present		 Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Barbara Roche		 Financial Secretary to the Treasury
1999–2001		 Succeeded by
Paul Boateng
Preceded by
Douglas Alexander		 Minister of State for E-Commerce and Competitiveness
2002–2003		 Succeeded by
Post Upgraded
Preceded by
New Post		 Minister of State for Energy, E-Commerce and Postal Services
2003–2004		 Succeeded by
Mike O'Brien
Minister of State for E-commerce, Energy & Competitiveness
Preceded by
Ruth Kelly		 Financial Secretary to the Treasury
2004–2005		 Succeeded by
John Healey
Preceded by
Malcolm Wicks		 Minister of State for Pensions Reform
2005–2006		 Succeeded by
James Purnell
Preceded by
Des Browne		 Chief Secretary to the Treasury
2006–2007		 Succeeded by
Andy Burnham
Preceded by
Office Created		 Minister of State for Competitiveness
2007–2008		 Succeeded by
Shriti Vadera, Baroness Vadera[1]
Preceded by
Caroline Flint		 Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform
2008 – present		 Incumbent

[edit] References

  1. ^ BERR Ministerial Biographies, retrieved 20 April 2008
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