Political friends and foes praise Roy Jenkins – 'quite simply, a great man'

Few in modern times could have attracted so many people from so many walks of life to their memorial service as Lord Jenkins of Hillhead did yesterday.

Politicians of all persuasion – including the former prime ministers Thatcher, Callaghan and Heath – as well as assorted dignitaries and academics were among those who attended the service at Westminster Abbey. They were there to celebrate his achievements as a reforming Labour home secretary in the 1960s, as a former president of the European Commission, a co-founder of the Social Democratic Party, chancellor of Oxford University and as an accomplished biographer and man of letters.

Baroness Williams of Crosby, a co-founder of the SDP, read a tribute from Tony Blair, who was unavoidably detained with his new best friend in the United States, praising Lord Jenkins' "intellect, vision and integrity". Lady Williams added her own words: "He was, quite simply, a great man."