JENKIN, Patrick (b.1926).
Family and Education
Offices Held
Biography
Charles Patrick Fleeming Jenkin was born on 7 September 1926 in Scotland. He was educated at the Dragon School, Oxford, Clifton College and Jesus College, Cambridge. He married Alison Graham in 1952.
At University, Jenkin was active in the Conservative student politics. He was called to the Bar in 1952, then worked in the chemical industry. A member of the Bow Group, he was a councillor on Hornsey Borough Council from 1960 to 1963, and became MP for Wanstead and Woodford in 1964 (succeeding Winston Churchill, who had sat for Woodford before boundary changes altered the seat). After just one year in Parliament he joined the front bench as the opposition spokesman on Economic and Trade Affairs. In 1974 he briefly served as the Minister for Energy until Labour returned to government. During Margaret Thatcher’s years as Prime Minister, Jenkin was Secretary of State for Social Services (1979-1981); Secretary of State for Industry (1981-1983) and Secretary of State for the Environment (1983-1985).
He stood down from the House of Commons in 1987 and was made a life peer as Baron Jenkin of Roding, of Wanstead and Woodford in Greater London.
