Rt Hon Sir Stephen Timms, MP for East Ham
Stephen Timms has been an MP since 1994. Currently: Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities); Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions).
Roles and committees
Posts held in government or opposition, and committee seats, as Parliament records them.
In government
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities) (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) | 2026 to now | Now |
| Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions) (Department for Work and Pensions) | 2024 to now | Now |
| Minister for Equalities (Department for Education) (Department for Education) | 2024 to 2026 | |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills) (Digital Britain) (also HM Treasury) (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills) | 2009 to 2010 | |
| Financial Secretary (HM Treasury) (also in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills) (HM Treasury) | 2008 to 2010 | |
| Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions) (Employment and Welfare Reform) (Department for Work and Pensions) | 2008 | |
| Minister of State (Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) (Competitiveness) (Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) | 2007 to 2008 | |
| Chief Secretary to the Treasury (HM Treasury) | 2006 to 2007 |
Show the other 7
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions) (Department for Work and Pensions) | 2005 to 2006 | |
| Financial Secretary (HM Treasury) (HM Treasury) | 2004 to 2005 | |
| Minister of State (e-Commerce & Competitiveness) (Department of Trade and Industry) | 2002 to 2004 | |
| Minister of State (Education and Skills) (Schools) (Department for Education and Skills) | 2001 to 2002 | |
| Financial Secretary (HM Treasury) (HM Treasury) | 1999 to 2001 | |
| Minister of State (Department of Social Security) (Department of Social Security) | 1999 | |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Social Security) (Department of Social Security) | 1998 |
In opposition
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions) (Department for Work and Pensions) | 2010 to 2015 | |
| Shadow Financial Secretary (HM Official Opposition) | 2010 | |
| Shadow Minister (Digital Britain) (HM Official Opposition) | 2010 |
Committees
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Space Industry (Indemnities) Bill | 2024 | |
| Offenders (Day of Release from Detention) Bill | 2023 | |
| Motor Vehicles (Compulsory Insurance) Bill | 2021 to 2022 | |
| Liaison Committee (Commons) | 2020 to 2024 | |
| Ecclesiastical Committee | 2020 to 2024 | |
| Work and Pensions Committee | 2020 to 2024 | |
| Committee on the Future Relationship with the European Union | 2017 to 2019 | |
| Committee on the Future Relationship with the European Union | 2016 to 2017 |
Show the other 8
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Education Committee | 2016 | |
| Education, Skills and the Economy Sub-Committee | 2016 | |
| Tax Law Rewrite Bills (Joint Committee) | 2009 to 2010 | |
| Public Accounts Committee | 2004 to 2005 | |
| Public Accounts Committee | 1999 to 2001 | |
| Treasury Committee | 1996 to 1997 | |
| Consolidation etc. Bills (Joint Committee) | 1994 to 1997 | |
| Building Societies Act 1986 (Amendment) Bill | 1929 |
Countries of interest
Political Interests
Source: UK Parliament Members API · Parliament’s own page
Declared interests
MPs must publish certain paid work, gifts, donations and other interests. This is a record of what they declared, not a suggestion that anything is wrong.
Stephen Timms has 3 interests currently registered.
| Type | What was registered | Registered |
|---|---|---|
| Miscellaneous | Trustee, East Thirteen Christian Trust. | 10 May 2018 |
| Miscellaneous | Trustee, Parliamentary Christian Trust. | 10 May 2018 |
| Miscellaneous | Chair of Trustees, Traidcraft Foundation. | 10 May 2018 |
Source: Register of Members’ Financial Interests · Parliament’s own page
Questions
MPs can ask ministers questions in writing. The questions show what an MP is working on, which votes cannot.
Stephen Timms has not asked any written questions in the last 12 months. Government ministers cannot ask them, so this can simply reflect an MP’s role.
Source: Written Questions API · Updated 4 Oct 2026
Expenses
MPs claim back money for running an office and working in two places. An independent body, IPSA, publishes every claim. This is what was paid in 2025-26.
42 claims. For comparison, across the 657 MPs in IPSA’s file the middle MP was paid £18,469 and the average was £19,699.
Source: IPSA, individual business costs data · About this data
Election result and area
Stephen Timms represents East Ham. Here is who won there at the last general election, and a few numbers about the area.
Labour
votes ahead of second place
of people who could vote did
Stephen Timms won with 52% of the votes, and Tahir Mirza (Independent) came second with 18%.
Votes for each party
Every candidate
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stephen Timms | Labour | 19,570 | 51.6% |
| Tahir Mirza | Independent | 6,707 | 17.7% |
| Rosie Pearce | Green Party | 4,226 | 11.2% |
| Maria Higson | Conservative | 3,876 | 10.2% |
| Daniel Oxley | Reform UK | 1,340 | 3.5% |
| Hillary Briffa | Liberal Democrat | 1,210 | 3.2% |
| Anand Kumar Sundar | Independent | 578 | 1.5% |
| Sathish Mohan Ramadoss | Independent | 385 | 1.0% |
2024 General Election, on today’s boundaries. Source: House of Commons Library via the Members API.
Your area at a glance
Median gross weekly pay, 2025. Source: ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.
Share of people aged 16 to 64, August 2026. Source: ONS and DWP claimant count.
How they vote
In the last 12 months Stephen Timms took part in 195 Commons votes.
More detail on how they vote
Stephen Timms voted the same way as their party in 193 of the 193 votes where parties gave instructions (100%), and went the other way in 0.
What does this mean?
Parties tell their MPs how to vote. Most MPs usually follow that. A high or low count says nothing on its own about whether an MP is good or bad, and we do not rank MPs by it. We only count votes where parties gave instructions, not free votes. How we count it
Recent votes
| Date | Vote | They voted | Compared with party |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 Sep | End of life for terminally ill adults: the first main vote | Against | Free vote |
| 11 Sep | A vote to end a debate | For | Free vote |
| 10 Sep | Social housing: an attempt to block it | Against | Same as party |
| 8 Sep | Health: a proposed change | Against | Same as party |
| 8 Sep | Health: a proposed change | Against | Same as party |
| 8 Sep | Health: a proposed change | Against | Same as party |
See every vote on Parliament’s site
Has this changed over time?
View data table
| Month | This MP | Party average |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 25 | 100% | 100% |
| Nov 25 | 100% | 100% |
| Dec 25 | 100% | 100% |
| Jan 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Feb 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Mar 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Apr 26 | 100% | 100% |
| May 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Jun 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Jul 26 | 100% | 99% |
| Sep 26 | 100% | 100% |
Source: Commons Votes API
This page states what the record shows. It does not say why an MP voted as they did. How we calculate this