Lord Timpson has resigned as Prisons Minister and left the Government.
He announced the move in a statement to the BBC on Monday 20 July. That was the day Andy Burnham succeeded Sir Keir Starmer as Prime Minister and started to appoint his ministers.
Sir Keir appointed James Timpson to the ministerial post in July 2024 and gave him a seat in the House of Lords.
In his statement to the BBC, Lord Timpson did not explain why he was leaving. He said it had been an honour to serve in the Government. The BBC reported its understanding that he felt he had done as much as he could in the job.
Lord Timpson said he had left “our prisons and probation service in a much healthier and happier state than two years ago”.
He listed what he saw as the achievements of his time in office. “I’m proud to have become the longest-serving minister in this role for 15 years. I’m also proud that 75 per cent of prisons and 90 per cent of probation teams are now performing better than when I started,” he said.
He added that self-harm, violence and assaults on staff had all fallen. He also said fewer people now left prison with nowhere to live, which he called a measure of dignity that mattered deeply to him.
Lord Timpson also pointed to the creation of the Women’s Justice Board in 2024. He said that “most women should not be in prison at all”. Steering women away from custody and helping them with lives that were often chaotic, damaged and addicted was, he said, one of the changes he was proud to have made.
When he joined the Government in 2024, Lord Timpson stood aside as Chief Executive Officer of the Timpson retail group. The family business runs key-cutting and shoe repair outlets and employs hundreds of former prisoners.
Westminster regarded his appointment as an unusual departure. He was an unelected businessman with acknowledged expertise in prisons and rehabilitation. Between 2010 and 2024, 13 different Conservative MPs held the post of prisons minister.
