A blue plaque has been unveiled for a former well-known British politician Roy Jenkins and his wife Dame Jennifer Jenkins at their old Oxfordshire home.

The Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board revealed the plaque on Saturday (September 16) at St Amand’s House where the pair lived from 1965 until their respective deaths.

The unveiling was attended by former colleagues and friends, family and residents to celebrate the commemoration.

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Mr Jenkins was a pre-eminent figure on the liberal left of British politics in the second half of the 20th century.

His wife has been described as a ‘stalwart support’ for him in his political career while working as a public servant sitting on many committees.

Oxford Mail: The Oxfordshire Blue Plaque to Roy Jenkins and Jennifer Jenkins at East Hendred

Mr Jenkins was Home Secretary twice, from 1965 to 1967 and from 1974 to 1976.

He was also the Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1967 to 1970 before serving as the sixth and first British president of the European Commission from 1977 to 1981.

He was a foremost founder of the  Social Democrats and represented the party in parliament when elected MP for Glasgow Hillhead in 1982.

He later joined the newly named Liberal Democrats, becoming their leader in the Lords after accepting a life peerage as Baron Jenkins of Hillhead.

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He was a distinguished author, acclaimed for political biographies of Herbert Asquith, Winston Churchill and William Gladstone (Whitbread Prize). 

In 1987, Mr Jenkins succeeded former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan as Chancellor of the University of Oxford, a position he would hold until his own death 16 years later.

In that time he was awarded the Order of Merit in 1993.

Oxford Mail: Martin Drury, the Hon. Charles Jenkins, Councillor David Turner, Lord Oakeshott, and Councillor Dr

Mrs Jenkins sat as the chairwoman of the Consumers’ Association and of the National Trust.

She was especially devoted to conservation and heritage and in 1985 she was awarded the DBE for services to ancient and historical buildings. 

She oversaw the addition to its estates of well over 50 villages and hamlets and half the coastline of Britain, including the white cliffs of Dover.

A visible legacy of her contribution is the pedestrianised public space in front of Buckingham Palace, which she brought about when she led the Royal Parks Review.

The ceremony saw public tributes to the pair by Matthew Oakeshott, Baron Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay, political colleague, and Martin Drury CBE, former director general of the National Trust, all paid their tributes to the couple for their contributions at the unveiling.

The board of the Oxfordshire Blue Plaque society survives with donations from the public, but decisions on the suitability for a plaque do not depend on the availability of funding.

If the board approve a proposal, the secretary will discuss potential sources of funding with supporters of the scheme and the specific subject, including the proposers.

The expenses to be covered typically include the manufacture of the blue plaque and necessary work for its fixing – which together amounts to around £500.

Do you think a famous Oxfordshire resident should be remembered with a blue plaque?

Visitwww.oxonblueplaques.org.uk/index.html for more information on how to make a proposal and to see previous plaques.