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.
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.[5]
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.[7]
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.[8]
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.[8]
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.[9] 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.[10]
Following the government reshuffle on 24 January 2008, Timms moved to the Department for Work and Pensions, and became Minister for Employment and Welfare Reform.[11] On 3 October 2008, Timms returned to his former role as Financial Secretary to the Treasury.[5]
In August 2009, Timms was given additional responsibility for Digital Britain.[12] 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".[13] According to the accountants' magazine Accountancy Age, he was highly regarded by finance professionals despite such gaffes.[14]
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.[15]
In February 2013 Timms abstained on the second reading of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013.[16][17][18] 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.[19]
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.[20]
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.[23][24] 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.[25]
In April 2021, Timms praised the work of the controversial Jesus House Church on Twitter.[26] 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.[27][28]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.[29]
In June 2024, Timms was reselected as the Labour candidate for East Ham at the 2024 general election.[32] He was re-elected with a reduced share of the vote, which declined from 77.8% to 51.7%, and was subsequently appointed a Minister of State in the Department for Work and Pensions.
He suffered "potentially life-threatening" wounds, including lacerations to his liver and a perforation to his stomach.[39] Timms underwent emergency surgery at the Royal London Hospital, from which he was discharged on 19 May.[40]
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.[39] 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."[41]YouTube removed some videos of al-Awlaki within hours of the sentence.[36][41]
After the murder of David Amess, Timms said in parliament that he would like to meet Choudhry, so "he can finally forgive her".[42]
Personal life
Timms is an evangelical Christian.[43][44] He is passionate about Christians entering politics and is a keen supporter of Just Love, a social justice movement working with Christian students.[45] He has lived in the London Borough of Newham since 1979, and has been married to Hui-Leng Lim since 1986.[41]