Sir Stephen Timms has been appointed into a Ministerial role in the Department for Work and Pensions. If confirmed as the new Pensions Minister, it will be his third time in the role.
Sir Stephen has been the Labour MP for East Ham since 1994.
He served in the New Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown holding several roles. He was Financial Secretary to the Treasury for three separate periods from 1999 to 2010, attending Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
In May 2010, Sir Stephen survived being stabbed in the abdomen at his constituency surgery.
He served on the Official Opposition front bench as Shadow Minister for Employment and later served in the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. He also chaired the Work and Pensions Select Committee.
Kate Smith, head of Pensions at Aegon, said the group welcomed Sir Stephen back to the DWP role.
She said: “Timms is well-known and highly respected in the pensions world, and with his wealth of pensions knowledge, he’ll be able to get to work quickly. As recent chair of the influential Work and Pensions Committee, Timms is used to asking the challenging questions and we expect this to continue as the DWP and Treasury, hopefully with input from the pensions industry, identify and take forward the new Government’s pension priorities.
“Top of the agenda will be the all-important pensions review referred to in Labour’s manifesto. It will be particularly welcome if this is led by an Independent Pensions Commission, making recommendations to Government.
“The new Labour Government also need to get to grips with how and where their pension priorities fit into the long list of ‘work in progress’ initiatives inherited from the outgoing Conservative Government. Aegon stands ready to work with Sir Stephen and the new Government.”
