Atos S.A. (formerly Atos Origin) is a French international IT services and consulting corporation based in Bezons, France. It operates in 42 countries globally, with over 74,000 employees. The company, Europe's largest IT services firm, is listed on Euronext Paris and is a member of the CAC Mid 60 stock market index.

Atos Origin was formed in October 2000 following a merger between the French company Atos and Origin B.V. from the Netherlands. Prior to that, both companies were the creation of other smaller mergers and acquisitions starting from around 1976. In 1996, Origin B.V. was created after a merger of the Dutch company BSO and the Philips C&P (Communications & Processing) division, while a year later in 1997, Atos was created following a merger of the French companies Axime and Sligos.

The next five years saw considerable further growth and changes for the company. In 2001, Atos Origin sold its Nordic operations to WM-data. In 2002, it made a major acquisition by buying KPMG Consulting in the United Kingdom and in the Netherlands. Then in 2004, it acquired SchlumbergerSema, the IT service division of Schlumberger and took over the infrastructure division of ITELLIUM, a subsidiary of KarstadtQuelle.

Dennis Edward Skinner (born 11 February 1932) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolsover since 1970, the Chairman of the Labour Party from 1988 to 1989, and has sat on the National Executive Committee numerous times since 1978.

Born in Clay Cross, Derbyshire, Skinner is the third of nine children of coal miner Edward Skinner, who was sacked after the 1926 general strike. Skinner himself worked as a miner for over 20 years, during which he became a NUM leader and Clay Cross Labour Party councillor. He is known for his left-wing views, acid tongue and for never missing a Commons session.

He is a member of the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs.

Skinner was educated at Tupton Hall Grammar School (now Tupton Hall School) after passing the Eleven-plus a year early. He worked in the mines from 1949 to 1970, at Parkhouse Colliery in Clay Cross until it closed in 1962, then at Glapwell Colliery near Chesterfield. He joined the Labour Party in 1956.

George Iain Duncan Smith (born 9 April 1954; often referred to by his initials "IDS") is a British Conservative politician. He is currently the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and was previously leader of the Conservative Party from September 2001 to October 2003. He was first elected to parliament at the 1992 General Election as the MP for Chingford and has represented its successor constituency of Chingford and Woodford Green since the 1997 General Election.

Duncan Smith was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and served in the Scots Guards from 1975 to 1981, with service in Northern Ireland and Rhodesia. He joined the Conservative Party in 1981, and was elected as a Member of Parliament in 1992. When William Hague resigned as Conservative Party leader in 2001, Duncan Smith won the subsequent leadership election, bolstered by the support of Margaret Thatcher and his Eurosceptic ideology. Duncan Smith was the first Roman Catholic to serve as Conservative Party leader, and the first born in Scotland since Arthur Balfour.