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Lead book review

Was Roy Jenkins the greatest prime minister we never had?

A review of John Campbell’s biography of Roy Jenkins. The liberal reformer may have been snobbish and self-indulgent, but he was also a visionary

29 March 2014

9:00 AM

29 March 2014

9:00 AM

Roy Jenkins John Campbell

Cape, pp.818, £30, ISBN: 9780224087506

In any list of the-best-prime-ministers-we never-had, the name of Roy Jenkins is likely to be prominent. He was intelligent, moderate, courteous, thoughtful: he was exactly the sort of man whom any civil servant would wish to see installed in No.10. That, no doubt, is why he never got there.

John Campbell makes no bones about the fact that he is a fan of Jenkins.

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