biography
| name: |
Jenkins (of Hillhead), Roy (Harris) Jenkins, Baron
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1920–2003)
|
| biography:
| British statesman, born in Abersychan, Torfaen, SE Wales, UK. He studied at Oxford, became a Labour MP in 1948, and was minister of aviation (1964–5), home secretary (1965–7), Chancellor of the Exchequer (1967–70), deputy leader of the Opposition (1970–2), and again home secretary (1974–6). He resigned as an MP in 1976 to take up the presidency of the European Commission (1977–81). Upon his return to Britain, he co-founded the Social Democratic Party (1981), and became its first leader, standing down after the 1983 election in favour of David Owen. Defeated in the 1987 election, he was given a life peerage and also became Chancellor of Oxford University. In 1997, he was appointed to chair the Independent Commission on the Voting System, which was charged with finding the most appropriate proportional alternative to the UK's ‘first-past-the-post’ electoral system. The Commission reported in 1998. |
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