Simon Jenkins

{{Infobox person

| honorific_prefix = Sir

| name = Simon Jenkins

| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FSA|FRSL}}

| image = Simon Jenkins at Policy Fight Club (cropped).jpg

| alt =

| caption = Jenkins in 2012

| birth_name = Simon David Jenkins

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1943|6|10}}

| birth_place = Birmingham, England

| death_date =

| education = Mill Hill School

| alma_mater = St John's College, Oxford

| death_place =

| nationality =

| awards = Knight Bachelor

| other_names =

| known_for =

| occupation = Journalist, author

| website =

| spouse = {{plainlist|

{{marriage |Gayle Hunnicutt|1978|2009|end=divorced}}
{{marriage |Hannah Kaye|2014}}

}}

Sir Simon David Jenkins {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FSA|FRSL}} FLSW (born 10 June 1943) is a British author, a newspaper columnist and editor. He was editor of the Evening Standard from 1976 to 1978 and of The Times from 1990 to 1992.

Jenkins chaired the National Trust from 2008 to 2014. He currently writes columns for The Guardian.

Early life

Jenkins was born {{Birth date|df=yes|1943|6|10}}, in Birmingham, England.{{cite web |url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U21999 |title='JENKINS, (Sir) Simon David', Who's Who 2012, A & C Black, 2012; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2011}}{{subscription required}} His father, Daniel Thomas Jenkins, was a Welsh professor of systematic theology at Princeton Theological Seminary and a Minister in the Congregational and then United Reformed Church.{{cite web|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/templates/article.jsp?articleid=76985|title=Jenkins, Daniel Thomas in OxfordDNB|first=Elaine |last=Kaye |access-date=20 October 2013}} He was educated at Mill Hill School and St John's College, Oxford, where he earned a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

Career

=Journalism=

After graduating from the University of Oxford, Jenkins initially worked at Country Life magazine, before joining the Times Educational Supplement.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/global/2008/apr/22/simon.jenkins |title=Simon Jenkins |work=The Guardian |date=22 April 2008 |access-date=1 December 2020}} He was then features editor and columnist on the Evening Standard before editing the Insight pages of The Sunday Times.{{cite news|first=Dominic |last=Timms |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/jan/27/theguardian.pressandpublishing|title=Times columnist Simon Jenkins to join the Guardian|work=The Guardian |date=27 January 2005|access-date=1 December 2020}}{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/sir-simon-jenkins-history-man-860553.html|title=Sir Simon Jenkins: History Man|last=McSmith|first=Andy|author-link = Andy McSmith|date=5 July 2008|work=The Independent|access-date=1 May 2010}} From 1976 to 1978 he was editor of the Evening Standard, before becoming political editor of The Economist from 1979 to 1986.{{cite web|url=http://www.thecornwalllecture.com/portfolio/simon-jenkins/ |title=Simon Jenkins |website=The Cornwall Lecture |publisher=University of Exeter |access-date=1 December 2020}} He edited The Times from 1990 to 1992,{{cite news|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/royals/interviews/jenkins.html |title=The Princess and the Press |work=Frontline |publisher=PBS |access-date=1 December 2020}} and since then has been a columnist for The Times and The Guardian.{{cite web |url=https://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/about-us/our-people/landmark-ambassadors/sir-simon-jenkins/ |title=Sir Simon Jenkins |website=Landmark Trust |access-date=1 December 2020 |archive-date=24 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220524224625/https://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/about-us/our-people/landmark-ambassadors/sir-simon-jenkins/ |url-status=dead }} In 1998 he received the What the Papers Say Journalist of the Year award.

In January 2005, he announced he was ending his 15-year association with The Times to write a book, before joining The Guardian as a columnist. He retained a column at The Sunday Times and was a contributing blogger at The Huffington Post.{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/simon-jenkins|title=Simon Jenkins @ The Huffington Post|author=Jenkins, Simon|date=9 September 2010|access-date=15 September 2010|work=The Huffington Post}} He gave up both on becoming chairman of the National Trust in 2008, when he also resumed an occasional column for the Evening Standard.{{cite magazine|title=Simon Jenkins column returns to Evening Standard|url=http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=42855|first=Dominic|author=Ponsford|date=19 January 2009|magazine=Press Gazette|access-date=1 May 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616101729/http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=42855|archive-date=16 June 2011|df=dmy-all}}

==Opinions==

In April 2009, The Guardian withdrew one of Jenkins's articles from its website after African National Congress leader and South African president-elect Jacob Zuma sued the paper for defamation.{{cite news|url=http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-04-14-zuma-sues-londons-guardian |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415233214/http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-04-14-zuma-sues-londons-guardian |title=Zuma sues London's Guardian|date=14 April 2009|work=Mail & Guardian |archive-date=15 April 2009}} The Guardian issued an apology,{{cite news|url=https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/guardian-forced-apologise-jacob-zuma/900365 |title=Guardian forced to apologise to Jacob Zuma |first=Ben |last=Bold |work=Campaign |date=22 April 2009 |access-date=2 December 2020}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/apr/21/corrections-jacob-zuma |title=Corrections and clarifications: Jacob Zuma |work=The Guardian |date=20 April 2009 |access-date=2 December 2020}} and settled the libel case for an undisclosed sum.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-safrica-zuma/south-africas-zuma-accepts-libel-damages-from-uk-paper-idUSTRE56T3GS20090730 |title=South Africa's Zuma accepts libel damages from UK paper |work=Reuters |date=30 July 2009 |access-date=2 December 2020}}{{cite news|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/zuma-wins-damages-from-uk-newspaper-453434 |title=Zuma wins damages from UK newspaper |first=Karyn |last=Maughan |work=Independent Online |date=30 July 2009 |access-date=2 December 2020}}

In February 2010, Jenkins argued in a Guardian article that British control over the Falkland Islands was an "expensive legacy of empire" and should be handed over to the Argentinian government.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/feb/25/falklands-britains-expensive-nuisance |title=The Falklands can no longer remain as Britain's expensive nuisance |first=Simon |last=Jenkins |work=The Guardian |date=25 February 2010 |access-date=1 December 2020}} He argued that they could be leased back under the supervision of the United Nations and that the 2,500 or so Falkland Islanders should not have "an unqualified veto on British government policy".

In a piece in The Guardian in June 2010 he wrote that the government should "cut [defence], all £45 billion of it. ... With the end of the Cold War in the 1990s that threat [of global communism] vanished."{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jun/08/cuts-armed-services-fantasy-enemies |title=My once-in-a-generation cut? The armed forces. All of them

|first=Simon |last=Jenkins |work=The Guardian |date=8 June 2010 |access-date=1 December 2020}} In August 2016 he wrote in The Guardian in support of NATO membership, saying: "It is a real deterrent, and its plausibility rests on the assurance of collective response".{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/19/jeremy-corbyn-dismissal-nato-trident |title=Jeremy Corbyn's dismissal of Nato is a step too far |first=Simon |last=Jenkins |work=The Guardian |date=19 August 2016 |access-date=1 December 2020}}

Jenkins claims to have voted for the UK to remain within the European Union in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, arguing in The Guardian that leaving would provide Germany with dominance over the remainder of the union: "It would leave Germany effectively alone at the head of Europe, alternately hesitant and bullying".{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/16/german-dominance-remain-eu-referendum-britain-votes-stay|title=I fear German dominance. That's why I'm for remaining in the EU|first=Simon |last=Jenkins |date=16 June 2016|work=The Guardian|access-date=27 July 2017}}

Soon after Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister, Jenkins wrote that his aides were "young, sneakered, tieless image-makers, and fiercely loyal to him." They were "special advisers, thinktanks and lobby groups isolated from the world outside."{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/07/rishi-sunak-margaret-thatcher-wise-advice-backbenches |title=Rishi Sunak has surrounded himself with yes-men. What he really needs is a Willie |last=Jenkins |first=Simon |newspaper=The Guardian |date=7 November 2022 |access-date=5 March 2024}}

Jenkins has consistently argued against Western military intervention in and support for Ukraine in the Russo-Ukrainian War. Before the outbreak of the Russian invasion in January 2022, amid heightened tensions, Jenkins wrote a pair of columns arguing that the United Kingdom should stay out of the "border dispute", one he argues is a direct result of 'NATO expansionism'.{{Cite news |last=Jenkins |first=Simon |date=2022-01-24 |title=A measure of autonomy in eastern Ukraine is the only way out of this crisis |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jan/24/autonomy-eastern-ukraine-crisis-nato-russia-minsk |access-date=2024-07-20 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite news |last=Jenkins |first=Simon |date=2022-01-20 |title=Britain should stay well out of Russia's border dispute with Ukraine |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jan/20/britain-russia-ukraine-border-dispute |access-date=2024-07-20 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} In 2023, he wrote a column discouraging the supplying of jets as military aid.{{Cite news |last=Jenkins |first=Simon |date=2023-02-09 |title=Zelenskiy wants jets. The west should think very carefully before giving them to him |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/feb/09/zelenskiy-jets-west-ukraine-battlefield-peace |access-date=2024-07-20 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} In early 2024, he wrote that NATO was growing reckless in the conflict, as the war reached a "predictable stalemate".{{Cite news |last=Jenkins |first=Simon |date=2024-03-05 |title=Nato is growing reckless over Ukraine – and Russia's German military leak proves it |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/05/nato-ukraine-russia-germany-military-leak |access-date=2024-07-20 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} Jenkins has been criticized for his opinions on Ukraine by many journalists and commentators, examples including Mark Laity{{Cite news |date=2024-03-14 |title=Peace in Ukraine has to be fought for |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/14/peace-in-ukraine-has-to-be-fought-for |access-date=2024-07-20 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} and Oz Katerji.{{Cite web |last=Katerji |first=Oz |title=Oz Katerji on X |work=X (formerly Twitter) |url=https://x.com/OzKaterji/status/1681029093452660738}}

In May 2024, following the local elections, he wrote calling metro mayors a "farce of local democracy" advocating their abolition.{{Cite news |last=Jenkins |first=Simon |date=2024-05-06 |title=England's metro mayors make a farce of local democracy. They must be scrapped |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/may/06/england-metro-mayors-local-democracy-local-politics-keir-starmer |access-date=2024-05-08 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}

=Books=

Jenkins has written several books on the politics, history and architecture of England, including England's Thousand Best ChurchesJenkins, Simon (2003) "England's Thousand Best Churches", Manchester Memoirs; vol. 140 (2001–02), pp. 10–20 (part of a lecture he gave to the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, 29 October 2001) and England's Thousand Best Houses. In his 2011 book A Short History of England, he argued that the British Empire "was a remarkable institution that dismantled itself in good order".{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/simon-jenkinss-potted-history-of-england-xltqns06g0r|title=Simon Jenkins's potted history of England|author=Kamm, Oliver|date=3 September 2011|newspaper=The Times}}

In 2022, Jenkins's book, The Celts: A Sceptical History, stoked some controversy on account of his incredulous view of the Celts as a distinct cultural entity. The release of the work was met with a number of hostile reviews from specialists in Celtic studies, with these critics of the book alleging factual errors in the work as well as of the misrepresentation of sources.{{cite news|url=https://nation.cymru/culture/review-the-celts-a-sceptical-history-by-simon-jenkins/|title=Review: The Celts, A Sceptical History, by Simon Jenkins|author=Rodway, Simon|date=1 July 2022|newspaper=Nation.Cymru}}{{cite news|url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/20254985.celts-sceptical-history-simon-jenkins-book-review/|title=Review: The Celts, A Sceptical History, by Simon Jenkins. Book Review|author=Mabbot, Alastair|date=8 July 2022|newspaper=The Herald}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theirishstory.com/2022/12/28/book-review-the-celt-a-sceptical-history/#.Y6-f5XZBy00|title=Book Review: The Celts, A Sceptical History, by Simon Jenkins|author=Fresne, Patrick|date=28 December 2022|newspaper=The Irish Story}}

=Public appointments=

Jenkins served on the boards of British Rail 1979–1990 and London Transport 1984–1986. He was a member of the Millennium Commission from February 1994 to December 2000,{{cite web|url=http://www.millennium.gov.uk/about/commissioners.html|title=Millennium Commissioners|publisher=Millennium Commission|access-date=5 December 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330011140/http://www.millennium.gov.uk/about/commissioners.html|archive-date=30 March 2012|df=dmy-all}} and has also sat on the board of trustees of The Architecture Foundation.{{cite news|url=https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/archive/all-change-at-foundation |title=All Change At Foundation |work=Architects' Journal |date=21 September 2000 |access-date=2 December 2020}} From 1985 to 1990, he was deputy chairman of English Heritage.

In July 2008, it was announced that he had been chosen as the new chairman of the National Trust; he took over the three-year post from William Proby in November of that year.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/jul/03/heritage.conservation|title=Writer Simon Jenkins to chair National Trust|author=Kennedy, Maev|author-link=Maev Kennedy|date=3 July 2008|work=The Guardian|access-date=1 May 2010}} He remained in the post until November 2014.{{cite web|url=https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/2014/06/27062014-national-trust-chairman-tim-parker/ |title=National Trust appoints new chairman |first=Simon |last=Stephens |website=Museums Association |date=27 June 2014 |access-date=2 December 2020}}

Personal life and honours

File:Knights Bachelor Insignia.png

Jenkins married the American actress Gayle Hunnicutt in 1978; the couple had one son.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2000/dec/17/featuresreview.review2 |title=The ultimate insider |author= Conrad, Peter|work=The Observer |date=17 December 2000 |access-date=2 December 2020}} They separated in 2008{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mandrake/2462042/Sir-Simon-Jenkinss-wife-files-for-divorce.html |title=Sir Simon Jenkins's wife files for divorce |first=Richard |last=Eden |work=The Telegraph |date=26 July 2008 |access-date=19 October 2016}} and divorced in 2009.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/4527741/Recession-blues-Come-to-see-our-snowdrops.html |title=Recession blues? Come to see our snowdrops |first=Elizabeth |last=Grice |work=The Telegraph |date=5 February 2009 |access-date=2 December 2020}} He married Hannah Kaye, events producer at Intelligence Squared, in 2014.{{cite news|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/londoners-diary/wedding-bells-for-a-girl-with-pearls-9723715.html |title=Wedding bells for a Girl with Pearls |work=Evening Standard |date=10 September 2014 |access-date=2 December 2020}}

Jenkins was appointed a Knight Bachelor for services to journalism in the 2004 New Year Honours.{{London Gazette |issue=57155 |date=31 December 2003 |pages=1–28 |supp=1 }}

In 2022, Jenkins was elected as a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales.{{Cite web |last=Wales |first=The Learned Society of |title=Simon Jenkins |url=https://www.learnedsociety.wales/fellow/simon-jenkins/ |access-date=2023-08-22 |website=The Learned Society of Wales |language=en-US}}

Selected works

Simon Jenkins (1969) Education and Labour's Axe, Bow Publications, {{ISBN|0-900182-79-2}}
Simon Jenkins (1971) Here to Live: Study of Race Relations in an English Town, Runnymede Trust, {{ISBN|0-902397-12-5}}
Simon Jenkins (1975) Landlords to London: Story of a Capital and Its Growth, Constable, {{ISBN|0-09-460150-X}}
Simon Jenkins (1979) Newspapers: The Power and the Money, Faber, {{ISBN|0-571-11468-7}}
Simon Jenkins (1981) Newspapers Through the Looking-glass, Manchester Statistical Society, {{ISBN|0-85336-058-8}}
Sir Max Hastings and Simon Jenkins (1984) Battle for the Falklands, M Joseph, {{ISBN|0-7181-2578-9}}
Simon Jenkins and Anne Sloman (1985) With Respect, Ambassador: Enquiry into the Foreign Office, BBC, {{ISBN|0-563-20329-3}}
Simon Jenkins (1986) The Market for Glory: Fleet Street Ownership in the Twentieth Century, Faber and Faber, {{ISBN|0-571-14627-9}}
Simon Jenkins and Robert Ilson (1992) "The Times" English Style and Usage Guide, Times Books, {{ISBN|0-7230-0396-3}}
Simon Jenkins (1993) The Selling of Mary Davies and Other Writings, John Murray, {{ISBN|0-7195-5298-2}}
Simon Jenkins (1994) Against the Grain, John Murray, {{ISBN|0-7195-5570-1}}
Simon Jenkins (1995) Accountable to None: Tory Nationalization of Britain, Hamish Hamilton, {{ISBN|0-241-13591-5}}
Simon Jenkins (1999) England's Thousand Best Churches, Allen Lane, {{ISBN|0-7139-9281-6}}
Simon Jenkins (2003) England's Thousand Best Houses, Allen Lane, {{ISBN|0-7139-9596-3}}
Simon Jenkins (2006) Thatcher & Sons – A Revolution in Three Acts, Penguin, {{ISBN|978-0-7139-9595-4}}
Simon Jenkins (2008) Wales: Churches, Houses, Castles, Allen Lane, {{ISBN|978-0-713-99893-1}}
Simon Jenkins (2011) A Short History of England, Profile Books, {{ISBN|978-1-84668-461-6}}
Simon Jenkins (2013) England's Hundred Best Views, Profile Books, {{ISBN|978-1-781250-96-9}}
Simon Jenkins (2016), England's Cathedrals, Little Brown, {{ISBN|978-1-408706-45-9}}
Simon Jenkins (2017) Britain's Hundred Best Railway Stations, Penguin Books, {{ISBN|978-0-241978-98-6}}
Simon Jenkins (2018) A Short History of Europe: From Pericles to Putin, Penguin Books, {{ISBN|978-0-241-35252-6}}
Simon Jenkins (2022) Cathedrals: Masterpieces of Architecture, Feats of Engineering, Icons of Faith, Rizzoli, {{ISBN|978-0847871407}}
Simon Jenkins (2022) The Celts: A Sceptical History, Profile Books, {{ISBN|978-1800810662}}

References

External links

[https://www.theguardian.com/profile/simonjenkins Simon Jenkins columns] at The Guardian
[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/simon-jenkins Simon Jenkins columns] at The Huffington Post
[https://www.standard.co.uk/biography/simon-jenkins Simon Jenkins columns] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150616200834/https://www.standard.co.uk/biography/simon-jenkins |date=16 June 2015 }} at the London Evening Standard
[http://www.spectator.co.uk/author/simon-jenkins/ Simon Jenkins columns] at The Spectator
{{Journalisted|simon-jenkins}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20130602210942/http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/browse/j/770/Simon+David.aspx Debrett's People of Today]