Robert Jenkins

Background

The son of J Hamilton Jenkins, he was educated at Latymer Upper School.

Career

During the First World War he served in the Inns of Court Officer Training Corps and the King"s Royal Rifle Corps. He was mayor of Kensington from 1939-1945 and leader of the Conservative group of the council from 1945-1953, being appointed an alderman in 1947. When the successor Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea was formed in 1964, he was appointed an honorary alderman.

He was appointed a justice of the peace for the County of London in 1946.

In 1946 the Municipal Reformers, who had been the Conservative-backed party on the council, dissolved itself and he spent the final three years as a Conservative councillor. At the 1950 general election, Jenkins stood as the Conservative candidate in the Dulwich constituency in South London, but lost by 1300 votes to the sitting Labour Party Member of Parliament Wilfrid Vernon.

Jenkins held the seat at the next two general elections, before retiring from the House of Commons at the 1964 general election.

Achievements

• The next year, at the 1951 general election, he won the seat, with a majority of 691 over Vernon.

Membership

40th United Kingdom Parliament. 41st United Kingdom Parliament. 42nd United Kingdom Parliament]

In 1927 he was elected to Kensington Borough Council, remaining a member of the council until its abolition in 1965.

From 1934 - 1949 he was also a member of the London County Council, initially as a Municipal Reform Party councillor for Kensington South.