Roy Jenkins
Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead OM, PC ( born November 11, 1920 in Abersychan today to Pontypool, Wales, † January 5, 2003 in East Hendred, Oxfordshire ) was a British social democratic politician and author. Among other things, he was from 1967 to 1970 British Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1977 to 1981 and President of the European Commission.
Life
Born as the son of an official of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and Member of Parliament Roy Jenkins was educated at the Abersychan County School. After studying political science and economics at Balliol College, Oxford, and his military service with the Royal Artillery and at Bletchley Park was Roy Jenkins from 1948 to 1977 for the Labour party Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons. At first he had tried unsuccessfully in 1945 to a seat in the constituency of Solihull, until he was elected in 1948 as the time youngest member of the legislature as a representative of the constituency of Southwark in the lower house. In 1950 he moved to the constituency Stetchford, Birmingham, which he held until 1977.
From 1955 to 1957 he was a member of the Consultative Assembly of the Council and the Assembly of Western European Union. As Chairman of the EU Committee of his party and President of the British Council of the European Movement, he campaigned for joining the EC in Britain. Roy Jenkins was then from 1977 to 1981 the first British President of the EC. From 1970 to 1972 he was Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.
He held various ministerial posts in the UK government, from 1964 to 1965 he was Minister of Aviation, 1965-1967, Minister of State at the Home Office and then to 1970, Chancellor of the Exchequer. From 1974 to 1976 he was again Minister of State at the Home Office. In his tenure as Minister of State at the Home Office, he was responsible for the reform of legislation on abortion, homosexuality, divorce and censorship (information control). As the successor of James Callaghan as Chancellor of the Exchequer, he ran the devaluation of the British pound in November 1967. He is also known for a speech he gave in 1966 at a meeting of the National Committee for Commonwealth Immigrants and which is now known as the " Charter of the egalitarian multiculturalism ", at that time, however, still did not attract much attention. Jenkins has therein back the idea that integration is a melting pot concept, which leads to the loss of national characteristics and culture. Rather, the cultural pluralism is a positive vision and a win for Britain.
1981 Jenkins resigned from the Labour Party from and, together with David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams, the Social Democratic Party ( SDP), whose leader he became. Already after one year of trying Owen, Jenkins replace as party chairman, which he finally succeeded after the disappointing choice for the SDP in 1983. From 1982 to 1987 Jenkins was SDP MP in the House of Commons for the constituency of Glasgow Hillhead.
After his elevation to the peerage Jenkins was a member of the House of Lords, where he served as leader of the Liberal Democrats until 1997. In 1997 he was appointed head of the eponymous commission to develop an electoral reform. Your proposal was not realized until his death.
Person
1945 Jenkins married Jennifer Morris, from his marriage had three children.
Roy Jenkins was also active as an author and has published 19 books, including biographies of William Gladstone (1995) and Winston Churchill ( 2001). 1987 Jenkins was appointed Chancellor of the University of Oxford.
Since 1964 he was a member of the Privy Council. On November 20, 1987, applicable ( in the County of Gwent ) to a Life Peer Roy Jenkins by awarding the title Baron Jenkins of Hillhead of Pontypool. He was inducted into the Order of Merit in 1993.
The city of Aachen gave Jenkins, who spoke excellent German, in 1972, the Charlemagne Prize.
Jenkins died in 2003 of a heart attack.
Honors
Works (selection)
- Gladstone. Macmillan, London 1995, ISBN 0-333-60216-1 ( Whitbread Prize for Biography 1995)
- Churchill. Macmillan, London, Basingstoke and Oxford 2001, ISBN 0-333-78290-9 or ISBN 978-0-333-78290-3