Stephen Timms has been East Ham’s Member of Parliament since 1994. He was elected to Chair the Work and Pensions Select Committee in January 2020. A Minister in the Labour Governments from 1998 to 2010, he served in the Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and twice as Minister for Pensions. He was Shadow Minister for Employment in 2010-15, a member of the Education Select Committee in 2015-16, and of the Select Committee on Exiting the EU in 2017-19. He worked for 16 years in the telecommunications and computing industries, and was Leader of Newham Council in 1990 – 94.