Statue plans to honour Open University founder

Jennie Lee was born in Fife, Scotland, in November 1904

A statue to honour the late politician Jennie Lee has been proposed, to celebrate her role in establishing The Open University (OU).

Milton Keynes Council is inviting artists to submit ideas for the statue, which would be installed in the city centre.

Baroness Lee of Asheridge was part of a group that created a white paper recommending the university's creation.

Prof Josie Fraser, interim vice-chancellor of OU, said: "Jennie Lee's passion for making quality education possible for all, regardless of background, was foundational in the creation and mission of the OU.

"Over 50 years later, we still carry that mission and Jennie's determination at the heart of all that we do."

Jennie Lee was appointed the first minister of the arts in 1964

In the paper, Baroness Lee, who was a Labour MP in two stints from 1929 to 1970, said: "The government has decided to establish a university of the air, that is to say, an open university.

"There can be no question of offering to students a makeshift project, inferior in quality to other universities. That would defeat its whole purpose."

Her vision was a platform that would allow students to learn from home, using posted learning materials alongside TV and radio programmes.

She had been appointed the first minister of the arts in 1964 by Prime Minister Harold Wilson.

The Open University received a royal charter in 1969 and the first students began their studies in 1971.

She delivered a speech and laid the foundation stone for the Jennie Lee Library at the Milton Keynes campus in 1973. She died in 1988.

The life peer of Parliament, and wife of NHS founder Aneurin Bevan, died in 1988 aged 84