Memorial for Lord Jenkins

Memorial for Lord Jenkins

Roy Jenkins was Chancellor of Oxford University for 15 years

Three ex-prime ministers have led tributes to former Labour chancellor and home secretary Lord Jenkins of Hillhead.

More than 1,400 people gathered at Westminster Abbey to remember Lord Jenkins who died at his home in Oxfordshire in January, aged 82.

Tony Blair, who is meeting President Bush at Camp David, sent a message in which he described Lord Jenkins as "both a friend and an inspiration to me".

Lord Jenkins was Chancellor of Oxford University for 15 years until his death, and was a widely respected political biographer with more than 20 publications to his name.

His influence on British politics was as great as many who have been Prime Minister

Prime Minister Tony Blair

Baroness Thatcher, Sir Edward Heath and Lord Callaghan, plus the other members of the famous Gang of Four, which headed the breakaway SDP in the early 1980s, Lady Williams, Lord Rodgers, and Lord Owen, were among the congregation.

Others attending included the Speaker, Michael Martin, the Lord Chancellor, Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy, Chris Patten, who succeeded Lord Jenkins as Chancellor of Oxford University, Garret FitzGerald, the former Taoiseach and Sir Max Hastings, the former Fleet Street editor.

The Prime Minister's message was read out by Lady Williams.

He said: "Roy Jenkins was both a friend and an inspiration to me.

'Great life'

"He had intellect, vision and an integrity that saw him hold firm to his beliefs of moderate social democracy, liberal reform and the cause of Europe.

"Roy often said he would like to have been Prime Minister but wasn't sure he would have enjoyed being Prime Minister.

"Yet in truth his influence on British politics was as great as many who have been Prime Minister, and I am only sorry I cannot join you today to celebrate one of the greatest lives of 20th century British politics."

The son of a miner's leader, Roy Jenkins was elected to Parliament in 1948 and served in both of Harold Wilson's governments.

Chancellor of the Exchequer under Harold Wilson, he left the Labour party in 1981.

Friends and colleagues

He was made a life peer in 1987.

Throughout his life an ardent pro-European, he was the natural choice to become the first British President of the European Commission.

Earlier this month, more than 400 friends and colleagues - many of them senior politicians and academics - gathered to pay tribute at a memorial service in Oxford.

The service was designed as a celebration of Lord Jenkins' life outside politics ahead of Thursday's larger memorial in London.