James Timpson: the new prisons minister offering offenders a second chance

"Let's talk cobblers," said Ian Acheson in The Spectator. The country's "shoe mender-in-chief" has been named minister for prisons.

Keir Starmer's appointment of Timpson Group CEO James Timpson, a campaigner for the employment of former prisoners, has been "universally acclaimed by the criminal justice commentariat to the point of fawning sycophancy". They will be expecting him to "make good on the pre-appointment poetry that suggested two thirds of people currently incarcerated should not be there".

It is a "bold move", said Acheson, a former prison governor, "but not one without risk".

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'Walks the walk'

Born in Knutsford, Cheshire, Timpson studied geography at Durham University, before joining Timpson Group, owned by his father, John. His mother, Alex, was a campaigner for children's rights, and as well as having three children, she and her husband adopted two and fostered 90 over 31 years at their home in Manchester. 

Growing up "in a culture of kindness" has "translated" into "unusual policies" at the family business , said John Podmore in Prospect. Timpsons, which specialises in shoe repairs and key cutting, welcomes applications from former prisoners, who make up more than 10% of the firm's workforce. It also offers to clean job interview outfits for free for customers who are unemployed.

The newly appointed prisons minister has previously been chair of the Employers Forum for Reducing Re-offending and of the Prison Reform Trust. In an interview with Channel 4 in February, Timpson said that only a third of the 85,000 people in prison in England and Wales "should definitely be there". Another third "probably shouldn't be there but they need some other kind of state support", he said, and prison "is a disaster" for the rest, because "it just puts them back in the offending cycle".

Timpson "walks the walk", said Starmer when he announced the government appointment, and has invested "a huge amount over many years" into rehabilitating ex-prisoners. 

His "outstanding track record of supporting ex-offenders" makes him "perfect for the job", said Simon Hattenstone in The Guardian. If he can put his beliefs into practice, "he will transform prisons, the lives of ex-offenders and society at large".

'Most dangerous man in Britain'

Timpson is "a man who gets things done", said Libby Purves in The Times. His writings reveal a "rare spirit of ethical capitalism, head, heart and collaborative energy", and his recruitment could be "political and practical genius".

For a penal reform lobby familiar with "get tough" policies, Timpson's appointment was certainly a "bolt from the blue", said Podmore. 

Yet while he "seems to have grasped, rather than been handed, this poisoned chalice, a poisoned chalice it remains". The criminal justice system, particularly the prison and probation service, "have all but collapsed". The role comes with a series of responsibilities, including in prison operations, policy, reform and industrial relations, as well as reducing reoffending.

Is Timpson the "most dangerous man in Britain", asked Rory Geoghegan, the founder of the Public Safety Foundation, in The Telegraph. It might be unfashionable to say out loud, but "prisons are vital to public safety and cutting crime", and the "rehabilitation narrative promoted by figures like Timpson is mostly a myth". 

The lack of prison space is not Labour's fault, but if "they think the answer is to empty the prisons rather than expand them, then they will turn a budding crisis into a chain of avoidable tragedies".