23 Facts About Bernard Jenkin

Sir Bernard Christison Jenkin was born on 9 April 1959 and is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Harwich and North Essex, previously Colchester North then North Essex, since 1992.

Bernard Jenkin 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.

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 ; and Monica Jenkin.

Bernard Jenkin is a descendant of the scientist Fleeming Jenkin.

Bernard Jenkin 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.

Bernard Jenkin was President of the Cambridge Union Society in 1982.

Bernard 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.

Bernard Jenkin 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.

In 2006, Bernard Jenkin faced criticism after he used the word "coloured" when referring to a British Asian Conservative A-List candidate, Ali Miraj.

In May 2012, Bernard Jenkin was re-elected as a member of the Executive of the 1922 Committee.

Bernard Jenkin, who gained a reputation as a critic of the Coalition government, led calls to drop the House of Lords Reform Bill 2012.

In January 2014, Bernard 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.

Bernard 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.

In September 2019, Bernard Jenkin criticised the House of Commons speaker John Bercow, stating that he was "irretrievably politicised and radicalised".

In June 2023 Boris Johnson called for Bernard 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 Bernard Jenkin had attended an event on 8 December 2020 in parliament.

In December 2023, Bernard 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".

Bernard Jenkin said that he was just paying "an honest and reasonable rent" for the property.

Bernard Jenkin was portrayed by Tim McMullan in the 2019 Channel 4 drama Brexit: The Uncivil War.

Bernard Jenkin married Anne Strutt in 1988 and has two sons.

Bernard Jenkin is an occasional naturist, and a long-time acquaintance of screenwriter Richard Curtis, who typically includes a character named 'Bernard' in everything he writes.

Bernard Jenkin is the vice-president of the UK charity Combat Stress, which offers residential treatment to ex-servicemen and women suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder.

In 2018, Bernard Jenkin was awarded with a knighthood honouring his political and public service.

Bernard Jenkin is in favour of marriage equality and was nominated for a Stonewall award in 2013.