In January 2022, Tim James was endorsed as Liberal Party candidate for the 2022 Willoughby state by-election, defeating local Mayor Gail Giles-Gidney and Kellie Sloane for preselection.

From 1996, he worked in the offices of Joe Hockey and then-prime minister, John Howard while completing his law and economic studies at the University of Technology Sydney.

[1] Admitted as a solicitor to the Supreme Court of NSW in 2002, James worked as a commercial lawyer for Allens Arthur Robinson and then as a legal adviser to Pfizer Australia.

While undertaking secondments in New York and London, James completed a Master of Business Administration at the Australian Graduate School of Management.

[11] In April 2023, James was appointed as the Shadow Minister for Fair Trading, Work Health and Safety and Building.