Mayor calls for Thatcher statue

The mayor of Grantham has said Baroness Thatcher should be honoured with a statue in the town.

The grocer's daughter, who went on to be prime minister from 1979 until 1990, was born in Grantham and went to Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School.

She was the longest serving prime minister for more than 150 years.

The town's Conservative MP Quentin Davies is also in favour of a statue. But he said Margaret Thatcher had told him she was not keen on the idea.

Roundabout artwork

"I asked her about this, I put it to her and she said, I think very characteristically, she didn't want a statue, she wanted something useful if we were going to do anything at all," he said.

"She said she would prefer something like a library or an IT centre or even a combination of the two.'"

The idea of the statue was reportedly put forward by an independent South Kesteven District Councillor after the authority asked for ideas for a piece of artwork on the roundabout outside the Asda superstore.

The Mayor of Grantham, councillor John Wilkes, said: "Love her or hate her, the fact still remains that she was the first lady prime minister for the country.

"I believe she did a lot of good for the country and like Isaac Newton, who was an equally famous resident of Grantham, I believe that there should be some statue or memorial to Margaret Thatcher for the town."