麻豆约拍

Ruth Wishart follows in the footsteps of Jennie Lee, the feisty coal miner鈥檚 daughter from Fife, who is remembered for her instrumental role in the creation of the Open University.

She was one of the finest orators of her generation and first elected aged 24, the youngest MP in the Commons at a point when she was below the voting age herself. In 1933, she married Nye Bevin, forming a famous political partnership and a marriage that lasted more than 20 years. After his death, she was appointed Minister of the Arts under Harold Wilson鈥檚 administration in 1964 and is today, best known for her role in helping to found the Open University in 1969, an achievement later described by Wilson as the greatest of his premiership.

This documentary, recorded on location in Fife, explores Jennie Lee鈥檚 formative years growing up in the political hotbed in the mining communities of Fife to discover the experiences and events that shaped her.

Born in 1904 in the Fife town of Lochgelly, Jennie Lee was brought up surrounded by books, with a love of learning and a passion for politics. Her father and grandfather were miners and prominent members of the Independent Labour Party and she followed in their footsteps and also became an active member of the ILP. Determined to stay at school at a time when most girls left to go to work at 15, her parents supported her to overcome the barriers she faced in her own education and Jennie repaid them with hard work. She was DUX in her final year at Beath High school and with sponsorship from the Carnegie trust and Fife Council managed to go to Edinburgh University to become a student teacher.

Jennie grew up in tumultuous times and steeped in lively political debate. In her political career she was famous for being a dissenter but it was in 1914 that she discovered what it meant to hold the minority view. Jennie鈥檚 family were pacifists, and throughout the First World War her father would chair meetings in opposition to the war and visiting IPL propagandists would stay at her home.

However, it was the events of 1926 that would have the biggest impact on Jennie Lee when she saw the suffering of the miners in Fife during the Great Strike.

鈥淚 was infuriated.. what I saw done to the miners shaped the whole of my future life鈥�
In 1927, she had a short career as a teacher in Fife but Jennie had never wanted to be a teacher and took the opportunity to leave when she was nominated as the ILP candidate for North Lanark, storming to victory in the by-election in 1929.

Until recently her name had been largely forgotten in the Fife mining communities that had shaped her. However, in the run up to the 50th anniversary of the Open University, her story began to be retold to school children and used to raise aspirations among the younger generations.