Bernard Jenkin

Sir Bernard Christison Jenkin (born 9 April 1959) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Harwich and North Essex, previously Colchester North then North Essex, since 1992. He also served as chair of the Liaison Committee.

Jenkin was elected chairman of the Public Administration Select Committee in May 2010. He is a longstanding critic of the European Union, believing that EU membership undermined the United Kingdom's national sovereignty, and he was one of the Maastricht Rebels during the premiership of John Major. In the 2016 EU referendum he supported Brexit and from 2017 he was one of the most vocal supporters of the Eurosceptic pressure group Leave Means Leave.

Early life and career

Bernard Jenkin was born on 9 April 1959 in Wood Green, to Patrick Jenkin, who subsequently became a Conservative MP and Cabinet minister, and later a life peer (as Baron Jenkin of Roding); and Monica Jenkin (née Graham). He is a descendant of the scientist Fleeming Jenkin.

He was educated at the fee-paying independent Highgate School, the voluntary aided William Ellis School, and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he was awarded a choral exhibition and gained a BA honours degree in English literature in 1982. He was President of the Cambridge Union Society in 1982.

After graduation, Jenkin worked in sales & marketing for Ford from 1983 to 1986, at the private equity company 3i from 1986 to 1988, and as a manager at Legal & General Ventures Ltd from 1989 to 1992. From 1992 to 1995, by then serving as an MP, he was an advisor to Legal & General Group plc, the parent company of his previous employer.

Jenkin stood for election as the Conservative candidate in Glasgow Central at the 1987 general election, coming second with 13% of the vote behind the incumbent Labour MP Bob McTaggart.<ref name="electoralcalculus1987">Template:Cite web</ref>

Parliamentary career

1st term (1992–1997)

At the 1992 general election, his 33rd birthday, Jenkin was elected as MP for Colchester North with 51.5% of the vote and a majority of 16,402.<ref name="electoralcalculus1992">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

During John Major's government, Jenkin was one of the Maastricht Rebels who defied the party whip to oppose the Maastricht Treaty.

2nd term (1997–2001)

Prior to the 1997 general election, Colchester North was abolished, and replaced with North Essex. At the general election, Jenkin was elected as MP for North Essex with 43.9% of the vote and a majority of 5,476.<ref name="electoralcalculus1997">Template:Cite web</ref>

William Hague appointed him Shadow Minister for Transport, serving from 1998 to 2001.

3rd term (2001–2005)

At the 2001 general election, Jenkin was re-elected as MP for North Essex with an increased vote share of 47.4% and an increased majority of 7,186.<ref name="electoralcalculus20012">Template:Cite web</ref>

Jenkin served as Shadow Secretary of State for Defence from 2001 to 2003 under Iain Duncan Smith and Shadow Regions Secretary from 2003 to 2005 under Michael Howard.

4th term (2005–2010)

Jenkin was again re-elected at the 2005 general election with an increased vote share of 47.6% and an increased majority of 10,903.<ref name="electoralcalculus2005">Template:Cite web</ref> He was appointed as Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party after the general election and served until 7 November 2006, when he was replaced by John Maples.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Jenkin's deputy chairman role came to an end when, during a shadow cabinet reshuffle, he was offered another frontbench position, which he declined, reportedly saying to David Cameron that only a return to the shadow cabinet would interest him.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2006, Jenkin faced criticism after he used the word "coloured" when referring to a British Asian Conservative A-List candidate, Ali Miraj.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> As of 2025, Jenkin uses the term "black and ethnic minority".

5th term (2010–2015)

Prior to the 2010 general election, Jenkin's constituency of North Essex was abolished and replaced with Harwich and North Essex. At the election, Jenkin was elected as MP for Harwich and North Essex with 46.9% of the vote and a majority of 11,447.<ref name="electoralcalculus2010">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In May 2012, Jenkin was re-elected as a member of the Executive of the 1922 Committee.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Jenkin, who gained a reputation as a critic of the Coalition government, led calls to drop the House of Lords Reform Bill 2012.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Jenkin voted in favour of same sex marriage in 2013 "as a matter of principle", whilst acknowledging the decision to hold the debate caused much "political unhappiness".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In January 2014, Jenkin drafted a letter calling for Prime Minister Cameron to renegotiate Britain's relationship with the EU to give the House of Commons powers to veto EU legislation, which was ultimately signed by 95 MPs, and reportedly backed by another six.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Following the Scottish independence referendum and promises made to further devolve powers to Scotland, Jenkin called for the creation of an "English First Minister" and for departments responsible for policy that applied only in England to be accountable only to the English MPs.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

6th term (2015–2017)

Jenkin was re-elected as MP for Harwich and North Essex at the 2015 general election with an increased vote share of 51% and an increased majority of 15,174.<ref name="electoralcalculus2015">Template:Cite web</ref> Following the general election, he was returned unopposed as the chairman of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Jenkin was one of the most vocal supporters of the Eurosceptic pressure group Leave Means Leave, and was a prominent Leave supporter in the Brexit referendum.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

7th term (2017–2019)

At the snap 2017 general election, Jenkin was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 58.5% and a decreased majority of 14,356.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In September 2019, Jenkin criticised the House of Commons speaker John Bercow, stating that he was "irretrievably politicised and radicalised". This comment came after Bercow made a speech warning Boris Johnson that "the only form of Brexit which we will have, whenever that might be, will be a Brexit that the House of Commons has explicitly endorsed".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

8th term (2019–2024)

Jenkin was again re-elected at the 2019 general election, with an increased vote share of 60.3% and an increased majority of 20,182.<ref name="Statement of persons nominated">Template:Cite web</ref>

Although a sceptic of lockdown, Jenkin supported the first COVID-19 tier regulations in England. However, he urged Boris Johnson to put forward a white paper on the issue, setting out how the UK can deal with COVID-19 through treatments, social distancing and an improved NHS Test and Trace.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2021, he was a critic of Russia, and urged the government to take action in Ukraine.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In June 2023 Boris Johnson called for Jenkin to resign, after his participation in the Commons Select Committee of Privileges which investigated whether Johnson had misled parliament, when it was reported by the Guido Fawkes website that Jenkin had attended an event on 8 December 2020 in parliament. It was reportedly the date of his wife's birthday, with a "drinks party" held by Eleanor Laing, a Commons deputy speaker, in her office.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In December 2023, it was found that the allegations did not meet the threshold for a fixed penalty notice by the police.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In December 2023, Jenkin was placed under investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Daniel Greenberg, for alleged "actions causing significant damage to the reputation of the House as a whole, or of its Members generally".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On 26 March, Greenberg's investigation determined the allegations would not be upheld.<ref>https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/pcfs/not-upheld/not-upheld---mc-mp-bj-mp-el-mp-vc-mp.pdf Template:Bare URL PDF</ref>

9th term (2024–)

At the 2024 general election, Jenkin was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 34.4% and a decreased majority of 1,162.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Expenses claims

In May 2009, Jenkin was reported by The Daily Telegraph to have used £50,000 in expenses to pay his sister-in-law rent on the property he uses as his constituency home. Jenkin said that he was just paying "an honest and reasonable rent" for the property.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 27 October 2009, it was initially recommended that Bernard Jenkin pay back £63,250 by expenses auditor Sir Thomas Legg. This is the highest amount known to have been recommended after an audit of MPs' claims on second homes expenses. His father ultimately settled the bill for him.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This amount was reduced to £36,250 following an appeal.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In popular culture

Jenkin's role on the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee was dramatised in the 2017 verbatim musical Committee: (A New Musical), which retold the downfall of the charity Kids Company and which was first performed at the Donmar Warehouse. Jenkin was portrayed by actor Alexander Hanson.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Jenkin was portrayed by Tim McMullan in the 2019 Channel 4 drama Brexit: The Uncivil War.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

Bernard Jenkin in January 2016

Jenkin married Anne Strutt in 1988 and has two sons. He is an occasional naturist,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and a long-time acquaintance of screenwriter Richard Curtis, who typically includes a character named 'Bernard' in everything he writes.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

He separated from his wife in 2022.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Jenkin is the vice-president of the UK charity Combat Stress, which offers residential treatment to ex-servicemen and women suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. To mark his 50th birthday, he held a fundraising event in March 2009 which raised over £50,000 for the charity.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Honours

In 2018, Jenkin was awarded with a knighthood honouring his political and public service.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Jenkin is in favour of marriage equality and was nominated for a Stonewall award in 2013.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Climate Coalition awarded him the Green Heart Hero Award in May 2018 for his eco-friendly lifestyle choices.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

• Template:Official website
• Template:UK MP links
• Bernard Jenkin CV
• Bernard Jenkin MP biography at the site of the Conservative Party
• Template:Usurped
• Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: Bernard Jenkin MP
• BBC News – Bernard Jenkin Template:Webarchive profile 20 June 2006

Video clips

• Template:YouTube
• Template:C-SPAN

News items

• 2006 reshuffle
• Use of the racial descriptor "Coloured"
• Laptop stolen in 2002

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