22 Facts About Bernard Jenkin

1.

Sir Bernard Christison Jenkin was born on 9 April 1959 and is a British Conservative Party politician serving as Member of Parliament for Harwich and North Essex since 2010.

2.

Bernard Jenkin was first elected to represent Colchester North in 1992, and went on to represent North Essex before the Harwich and North Essex constituency was created.

3.

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.

4.

Bernard Jenkin is a descendant of the scientist Fleeming Jenkin.

5.

Bernard Jenkin was educated at Highgate School, 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.

6.

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

7.

Bernard Jenkin has served as Shadow Secretary of State for Defence under Iain Duncan Smith and Shadow Regions Secretary under Michael Howard.

8.

Bernard Jenkin was Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party, and had responsibility for candidates, until 7 November 2006, when this role was given to John Maples.

9.

In 2006, Bernard Jenkin used the racial descriptor "coloured" when referring to a British Asian Conservative A-List candidate, Ali Miraj.

10.

Since May 2012, Bernard Jenkin has been consistently re-elected as an Executive of the 1922 Committee and remains an incumbent as of 6 July 2022.

11.

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

12.

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.

13.

Bernard Jenkin was one of the most vocal supporters of the Eurosceptic pressure group Leave Means Leave.

14.

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

15.

In December 2019, Bernard Jenkin voted in favour of the withdrawal agreement.

16.

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

17.

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.

18.

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

19.

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

20.

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.

21.

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

22.

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