The passing of Ian Jenkins peacefully in his 85th year was a huge blow to many people who had the privilege of knowing Ian and the very special man he was.

Raised on the isle of Bute and having graduated from Glasgow University with an MA, Ian decided to enter the teaching profession. He progressed in that until, in 1970, he was appointed Principal Teacher of English at Peebles High School. His wife, Midge, also took up a teaching appointment there and they moved to Peebles. 

Ian knew much more than most of us about our wonderful language, its rules and nuances and how to use these creatively. In particular, his deep knowledge of literature and poetry were legendary. 

One of his favourite writers was C.S. Lewis who wrote a book called “The Four Loves” contrasting four different meanings of love—affection, friendship, eros and charity. These four overlap with one another and can grow into the others. Yet the greatest of these is the last which Lewis called Charity which is simply the kind of love that seeks the welfare of others than yourself.  

In all his doings, Ian was a living example of that kind of love—genuine, thoughtful and kind. And one always left a conversation with Ian better informed and enriched—and almost always with a smile on one’s face. A few minutes in his company would confirm his wisdom, his careful arguments and his literary allusions and his ever-present good humour.

Ian and Midge put down new roots in Peebles but Ian’s pride in his adopted home never diminished his pride in their origins on Bute. 

Be it the Rotary, youthwork, mental health, culture, golf, rugby, Ian was ever involved in some local charity or worthy cause. The breadth of his work was recognised nationally in 2023 when he was awarded the MBE for services to charity and the community. Typically, his reaction was “I don’t deserve such recognition”; but he did accept it and, accompanied by Midge, was presented with his Medal by Princess Anne in Holyrood Palace last year.

A master craftsman in his profession as a teacher, it was not surprising that he was an unconventional disciplinarian. Opposed to corporal punishment long before it was outlawed, he relied on persuasion, good humour and empathy to secure his authority as a senior figure in one of Scotland’s leading schools.

Ian’s other passion was politics. Liberal by nature and a non-conformist thinker, Ian inspired many people in the Borders and elsewhere to become active Liberals and few were as important as Ian in that. 

As Convener of the local party, he shepherded and encouraged activists and sceptic supporters alike, was the avuncular host at endless coffee mornings, always raising money for election campaigns, recruiting volunteers and putting together endless bundles of election leaflets and distribution instructions; and, crucially, giving unfailing support to candidates.

But it was perhaps for his work as a Member of the Scottish Parliament that he was best known publicly —appointed, naturally given his professional experience and knowledge, to the Education Committee of the Parliament.

Elected in 1999, as the first representative of the Tweeddale Ettrick and Lauderdale Constituency, to the re-convened Scottish Parliament, Ian served with distinction along with 16 other Scottish Liberal Democrats– including Leader Jim Wallace as Deputy First Minister and David Steel as Presiding Officer. 

Ian’s legacy in that respect is a special one. It is rare in politics to be a full-blooded participant and depart with reputation enhanced. As a thoughtful and decent human being, Ian managed that with some style. In his final speech in the Parliament in March 2003 which was a debate styled “closing the gap for older people”, Ian included extracts of his beloved poetry—specifically Tennyson’s “Ulysses”. One of these captures Ian’s attitude perfectly:

“How dull it is to pause, to make an end. 

To rust unburnish’d, not to shine in use”

And in his retirement these past twenty-two years, Ian still had lots of time to shine in use and to offer a “wee word of advice” here and there to his party and to his many friends and colleagues. 

He will be greatly missed. 

* Graham Garvie is a former Lib Dem Councillor in the Scottish Borders