Roy Harris Jenkins Baron Jenkins of Hillhead

Roy Harris Jenkins Jenkins of Hillhead, Baron 1920-2003, British politician, b. Abersychan, Wales; grad. Oxford. He entered the House of Commons in 1948 as a Labour member and soon became one of the most formidable debaters in Parliament. When the Labour party returned to power (with Harold Wilson as prime minister) in 1964, Jenkins became minister of aviation. As home secretary from 1965 to 1967 he worked for broader laws against racial discrimination and played a large part in liberalizing laws on abortion, homosexuality, divorce, and censorship. As chancellor of the exchequer (1967-70) he instituted a program of austerity in an effort to solve Britain's financial crisis. In 1971, in defiance of the Labour party majority, he supported Britain's entry into the European Community (now the European Union). He resigned (1972) as deputy opposition leader, but again served as home secretary (1974-76) under Harold Wilson until he resigned to become president of the European Commission (1977-81). In 1981 he cofounded the Social Democratic party as a moderate alternative to Labour and Conservative extremism. He returned to Parliament in 1982 but lost his seat in 1987. He was created a life peer in 1987 and became chancellor of the Univ. of Oxford the same year, serving until his death. His historical writings include Truman (1986), Baldwin (1987), and Churchill (2001).

Bibliography: See his memoirs (1991); biography by J. Campbell (1983).

Jenkins, Roy Harris, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead (b. 11 Nov. 1920). British Chancellor of the Exchequer 1967–70; SDP leader 1981–3 Born in Pontypool, Monmouthshire, he was educated at Abersychan County School and Oxford. During World War II he worked as a code-breaker, and became a Labour MP in the 1948 Southwark by-election. He became an effective Minister of Aviation (1964–5), though his reputation was made as one of the most successful Home Secretaries (1965–7) and Chancellors of the Exchequer since World War II. In the former position, he instituted a string of liberal reforms, notably the legalization of abortion and homosexuality. As Chancellor, his budgets eliminated a large balance-of-payments deficit, though the austerity which so effectively reduced consumption did little to endear his government to large sections of the electorate. As Foreign Secretary in the last Wilson government (1974–6), he was a committed advocate of British membership of the European Economic Community (European integration). He became President of the European Commission in 1976, having lost to Callaghan in the election for the Labour leadership. In this position, he was, together with Schmidt and Giscard d'Estaing, instrumental in the introduction of the ERM. Alarmed by Labour's drift to the left, he re-entered British politics and co-founded the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1981. He was its leader until 1983, when he was replaced by David Owen. He gained a sensational by-election victory for the SDP in 1982 at Glasgow Hillhead, a seat he lost in 1987. He was elected Chancellor of Oxford University in 1987, and was raised to the peerage in 1988. He wrote a number of biographies which, despite the absence of new or controversial insights, enjoyed considerable popularity, including Asquith (1964), Truman (1986), Baldwin (1987), Gladstone (1995), and Churchill (2002).