Early life
Timpson was born in Knutsford,Cheshire,in 1973. [5] His father,Sir John Timpson,is the chairman and owner of the Timpson chain of shoe repair and key-cutting shops,which has been in the family for five generations and has over 2,000 stores in the UK and Ireland. [6] Timpson grew up with an elder sister and brother,two younger adopted brothers,and over 80 children fostered by his parents. [7] His mother,Alex Timpson,was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2006 for services to Children and Families. [8] She died on 5 January 2016. [9] [10] [11]
He was educated at Pownall Hall School,Alderley Edge County Primary School,Stockport Grammar Junior School,Terra Nova School and Uppingham School. He then attended Durham University (Hatfield College),where he gained a BA (Hons) in Politics,and the University of Law in London,where he gained a law degree (LLB). [2]
Timpson was called to the Bar of England &Wales in 1998. He was a pupil barrister at One Garden Court Chambers in London,and from 1999 until his first election to Parliament in 2008 practised family law in Chester. [12] [13]
Political career
First years in the Commons
In July 2007,Timpson was selected as the Conservative candidate for the Crewe and Nantwich constituency, [14] an area which had been represented by the Labour MP Gwyneth Dunwoody since 1974. After Dunwoody died in April 2008,a by-election was called for May 2008. In the run-up to the by-election,Timpson was the target of a "toff" campaign by Labour,which attempted to paint him as "a rich man" who would not "understand the problems that people face day-to-day" in contrast to their candidate,Gwyneth Dunwoody's daughter Tamsin Dunwoody. [10]
The Conservative campaign focused on local issues,such as crime and antisocial behaviour,closure of post offices and problems at Leighton Hospital,where two women in labour were turned away,as well as national issues –referring to Dunwoody as "Gordon Brown's candidate" and capitalising on dissatisfaction with the Labour government,in particular the removal of the 10% tax rate. [15]
On 22 May 2008,Timpson was elected MP,gaining 20,539 votes (49% of the vote),a swing from Labour of 17.6%. [16] [17] This was the Conservatives' first gain in a by-election since 1982. He made his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 16 June 2008. [18] Timpson served on the Joint Committee on Human Rights and the Children,Schools and Families Select Committee. He is a Vice-President of Conservative Friends of Poland. [19]
Crewe is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The civil parish of Crewe had a population of 55,318 in the 2021 census. The larger Crewe built-up area, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston, Shavington cum Gresty and Wistaston, had a total population of 76,437 in 2021.
Gwyneth Patricia Dunwoody was a British Labour Party politician, who was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Exeter from 1966 to 1970, and then for Crewe from February 1974 to her death in 2008. She was a moderate socialist and had a reputation as a fiercely independent parliamentarian, described as "intelligent, obstinate, opinionated and hard-working".
Moyra Tamsin Dunwoody, sometimes known as Tamsin Dunwoody-Kneafsey, is a British Labour politician who served as the Member of the National Assembly for Wales for Preseli Pembrokeshire from 2003 to 2007. She served in the Welsh Government from 2005 to 2007 as the Deputy Minister for Environment, Planning and Countryside and Deputy Minister for Economic Development and Transport.
David George Hanson, Baron Hanson of Flint,, is a British Labour Party politician who has served as a minister of state in the Home Office since July 2024. He previously served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Delyn from 1992 to 2019. He held several ministerial offices in the Blair and Brown governments, serving in the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice, the Wales Office, the Northern Ireland Office and the Whips' Office. Hanson sat on Ed Miliband's opposition front bench as a shadow treasury minister, and later the shadow immigration minister.
Congleton is a parliamentary constituency in Cheshire, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Sarah Russell of the Labour Party.
Crewe and Nantwich is a constituency in Cheshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It was created in 1983; since 2024 its Member of Parliament (MP) has been Connor Naismith of the Labour Party.
Eddisbury was a constituency in Cheshire last represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Edward Timpson, a Conservative who left office at the dissolution of parliament in advance of the 2024 United Kingdom general election, at which this former constituency was replaced.
Haslington is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies about 2 miles (3.2 km) north-east of the much larger railway town of Crewe and approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Sandbach. The village was originally bisected by the A534 road that links Crewe with Sandbach, however, this road has now been re-routed to bypass the village to the north-west. The village is also a close neighbour to a number of small towns and villages, and is approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) from the Elizabethan market town of Nantwich.
Crewe was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1983. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
Dodcott cum Wilkesley is a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The hamlet of Wilkesley lies 2+1⁄2 miles to the west of Audlem and 7 miles to the south west of Nantwich. The parish also includes the village of Burleydam, the largest settlement, as well as the small settlements of Butterley Heyes, Cheshire Fields, Combermere, Lightwood Green and Royal's Green. It also formerly contained the settlements of Pinsley Green and Smeaton Wood, now located in Wrenbury cum Frith civil parish. Nearby villages include Adderley and Calverhall in Shropshire and Audlem, Newhall and Wrenbury within Cheshire.
Leighton is a scattered settlement and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, which lies immediately north west of Crewe. The parish also includes the village of Barrows Green, which lies on the northern outskirts of Crewe, 1½ miles from the centre. Nearby villages include Bradfield Green and Worleston. The total population of the civil parish was 4,883 at the 2011 Census.
Checkley cum Wrinehill is a former civil parish, now in the parish of Doddington and District, in the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, which lies adjacent to the boundaries with Shropshire and Staffordshire. The hamlet of Checkley lies to the south east of Crewe and to the west of Newcastle-under-Lyme. The parish is largely rural but also includes the small settlements of Bunkers Hill and Randilow. Wrinehill was formerly included in the parish, becoming part of Staffordshire in 1965. Nearby villages include Blakenhall, Bridgemere, Madeley and Woore. In 2001 the parish had a population of 129.
The 2008 Crewe and Nantwich by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 22 May 2008, for the House of Commons constituency of Crewe and Nantwich, in Cheshire, England. The election was won by the Conservative party candidate Edward Timpson, who defeated the Labour party candidate Tamsin Dunwoody, on a swing from Labour to Conservative of 17.6%, a swing that in a general election would have seen nine Labour cabinet ministers lose their seats.
The 2008 Henley by-election to elect a member of the House of Commons for the constituency of Henley in Oxfordshire was held on 26 June 2008. It followed the election of the previous incumbent Boris Johnson as Mayor of London in May 2008. In order to resign from being an MP, Johnson accepted the post of Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead on 4 June 2008.
Antoinette Geraldine Mackeson-Sandbach, known as Antoinette Sandbach, is a barrister, farm manager and politician who was elected as a North Wales region Member of the Welsh Assembly at the May 2011 election, and subsequently elected Member of Parliament for Eddisbury in Cheshire at the 2015 general election.
Sir William John Anthony Timpson CBE is a British businessman who is chairman and owner of retailer Timpson.
Laura Smith is a British politician who served as the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for Crewe and Nantwich from 2017 to 2019. In 2017, she defeated the incumbent Conservative Edward Timpson by 48 votes, before losing her seat at the 2019 general election.
Kieran Mullan is a British Conservative Party politician who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bexhill and Battle. He was previously the MP for Crewe and Nantwich between 2019 and 2024.
