Roy Jenkins
was born in Abersychan, Monmouthshire, on 11th November, 1920. His
father was Arthur Jenkins, president of the South
Wales Miners' Federation and the Labour
Party MP for Pontypool. Jenkins was educated at Abersychan Grammar
School and Balliol College, Oxford,
where he won a first in 1941.
During
the Second World War Jenkins served in the Royal
Artillery and for a while he worked as a codebreaker at Bletchley
Park.
A member
of the Labour Party, Jenkins was to elected
to the House of Commons in 1948. At first
he represented Central Southwark but at the 1950
General Election moved to Stechford, Birmingham.
The Conservative
Party held power between 1951 and 1964. After the Labour
Party won the 1964 GeneraI Election the
new prime minister, Harold Wilson, appointed
Jenkins as aviation minister. The following year, Jenkins became home
secretary. While in this post he encouraged the passing of private
members' bills that legalized homosexuality and abortion.
In 1967
Jenkins became chancellor of the exchequer, the second most important
post in the Cabinet. Over the next three years his main strategy was
to get the balance of payments in the black. By the time of the 1970
General Election he had acquired the nickname of "Surplus
Jenkins".
The Conservative
Party won the 1970 election. When the new House
of Commons assembled Jenkins was elected deputy leader of the
Labour Party. At the 1971 Party Conference
he argued strongly for Britain to join the European Community. Jenkins
lost the vote by five-to-one and he upset the party when he defied
a three-line whip to vote with the Conservatives on this issue.
The Labour
Party won the 1974 General Election and Jenkins
once again became home secretary. The following year he led the successful
"yes" campaign in the referendum on membership of the European
Community. When Harold Wilson resigned
in 1976 Jenkins stood for the leadership of the party. However, he
came only third behind James Callaghan
and Michael Foot.
In 1977
Jenkins left the House of Commons to become
president of the European Commission in Brussels. In this post he
began to advocate the idea of European monetary union. This was considered
to be too radical at the time and the result was the introduction
of the European monetary system. However, he had laid the foundations
for what was later to become the single currency in 2002.
The political
views of Jenkins were unpopular in the Labour
Party and in 1981 he joined Shirley Williams, David Owen and William
Rodgers in setting up the Social Democratic Party
(SDP). Jenkins became leader of the new party and in 1982 he returned
to the House of Commons as MP for Glasgow
Hillhead.
At the
1983 General Election the SDP-Liberal Alliance
achieved 25% of the popular vote. However, the SDP won only 6 seats.
After the election Jenkins resigned as leader and was replaced by
David Owen. In the 1987 General Election
Jenkins lost his seat at Glasglow Hillhead. Created Lord Jenkins of
Hillhead he became the leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House
of Lords.
In retirement
Jenkins concentrated on writing and published several books including
an autobiography, A Life At The Centre
(1991) and two best-selling biographies, Gladstone
(1995) and Churchill (2001).
Roy Jenkins died on 5th January, 2003.
History
of the European Union: Integration Process and European Citizenship
