Roy Jenkins

The New Elizabethans

The New Elizabethans: Lord Jenkins of Hillhead. Jim Naughtie considers the politician, Roy Jenkins who left the Labour Party to set up the Social Democratic Party.

Roy Jenkins made the journey to Government from a school in south Wales, via Oxford University and a spell at Bletchley Park. He held high office in a Labour government but never made Prime Minister. He became the first British president of the European Commission and after disaffection with the direction the Labour party was taking, he was one of the co founders of the Social Democratic Party. In his political retirement he went on to write acclaimed political biographies of Gladstone and Churchill.

The New Elizabethans have been chosen by a panel of leading historians, chaired by Lord (Tony) Hall, Chief Executive of London's Royal Opera House. The panellists were Dominic Sandbrook, Bamber Gascoigne, Sally Alexander, Jonathan Agar, Maria Misra and Sir Max Hastings. They were asked to choose: "Men and women whose actions during the reign of Elizabeth II have had a significant impact on lives in these islands and/or given the age its character, for better or worse."

Producer: Sarah Taylor.