A MAJOR campaign to honour three times British Prime Minister and one of Worcestershire’s greatest son’s Stanley Baldwin could finish on the highest political note at the official unveiling of his statue in his birth town of Bewdley.

Members of the Stanley Baldwin Statue Appeal hope the current British Prime Minister Theresa May MP will visit the town in December and officiate at the ceremony. Mrs May is already a patron of the appeal and has offered her support to the project.

In response to the invitation to become a patron of the Stanley Baldwin Statue Appeal, she said: “Stanley Baldwin should be recognised as one of the most significant figures of 20th century British politics. He served as Leader of the Conservative Party for 14 years and served our nation as Prime Minister three times under three different monarchs.

“It was he who coined the phrased ‘One Nation’, and he put it into practice with important social reforms – introducing the first comprehensive pensions scheme, extending health insurance and unemployment benefit and giving women the vote on the same terms as men.

“As Prime Minister of a One Nation Conservative Government, I am delighted to hear of the plans to erect a statue in his honour in his birthplace and former constituency of Bewdley. I fully support this appeal and wish it every success in reaching its target.”

The life-size bronze statue is being created by eminent sculptor Martin Jennings – renowned for his figure of Sir John Betjeman in St Pancras Station, London – and is expected to cost up to £150,000.

A fund-raising appeal was launched at the House of Lords at the end of January and this was followed by a major fundraising dinner at Hagley Hall, the home of the 12th Viscount Cobham and his wife. The statue appeal has now reached just under £80,000.

Richard Perrins, chairman of the Bewdley Civic Society and a member of the statue appeal committee, said he was delighted with the way the appeal has progressed.

“We are nearly at the £80,000 mark which is over half way. We have had two major events and we are on target. We have still got some way to go though. It is always difficult to predict how a fund-raising campaign like this will go but we are very pleased with the situation.

“What we do not know is how much the groundworks are going to cost but we are hoping to find out soon. If we have to move BT cables, we have been told that is a really expensive job. We can do a radar scan, so we are hoping to have that done soon.”

He said the Hagley Hall dinner had been a huge success. “There were 180 people there. The tickets were sold out and we had a waiting list. It was tremendous. It was beyond our expectations.”

Apart from the dinner in majestic surroundings, guests were treated to two speeches – one from former director general of the CBI and life peer Lord Digby Jones and the other from Stanley Baldwin’s great granddaughter Beatrice Grant.

Mr Perrins added: “Digby Jones’ speech was very entertaining with a serious and genuine message about Baldwin. Baldwin had the challenge of Nazi Germany, the General Strike and the abdication. He had some major things on his plate. Digby Jones was exactly the man for the job. He did a great job and was much enjoyed by the audience.

“Beatrice Grant delivered the family side. It was not the sort of stuff you read in books, it was more about the private life of Stanley Baldwin.

“We are very grateful to Lord and Lady Cobham. What a fabulous venue for it. It really was a splendid occasion. The financial rewards from it were great – not just from ticket sales but from donations since. It generated lots of donations and did tremendously well.

“It was a great success but we have still go work to do. We still need the people to help us. We are planning another major event in September, from which we hope to raise enough to reach our target.”

He said the sculptor has promised the statue will be finished by December for it to be unveiled in Bewdley’s Load Street this year – the 150th anniversary of Baldwin’s birth in the town. “We are hoping that Teresa May will be able to come to Bewdley to unveil it,” said Mr Perrins.

At the end of last month Conservative peer, historian, author and Baldwin expert Lord Lexden delivered a lecture on Stanley Baldwin at the Carlton Club in London.

In it he said: “This year provides us with a golden opportunity to reflect on this unusual, much-loved man of deep humanity and understanding. He became one of our most successful peacetime prime ministers.

“2017 is replete with Baldwinian anniversaries. He was born 150 years ago in 1867. He first held Government office 100 years ago in 1917 when he was nearing the age of 50 - a notably late start for a minister. He retired from political life as Earl Baldwin of Bewdley amidst almost universal praise at a moment of his choosing – a rare thing in politics – 80 years ago in 1937. He died 70 years ago in 1947 at the age of 80.

“It is surely fitting that this array of anniversaries should be marked by the erection this year of a statue of him in Bewdley, his beloved birthplace which gave its name to the constituency he represented for nearly 30 years and where he is still remembered with affection.”

He said Baldwin’s political career was a story of triumph and tragedy. “The triumph deserved – the tragedy unjust. Outside politics his success was almost unbroken. He loved his native Worcestershire as passionately as that county’s other famous contemporary son Edward Elgar. As a young man he served the county diligently as a councillor and magistrate.”

Probably one of Baldwin’s greatest compliments came from his cousin and close friend Rudyard Kipling who said of him: “Stan is the real writer in the family”.

Anyone wanting to donate to the Bewdley Civic Society statue appeal can visit https://localgiving.org/charity/bewdley-civic-society/project/stanleybaldwinstatueappeal/ or sending a cheque to Bewdley Civic Society SB Account, 16 Park Dingle, Bewdley, DY12 2JY.

Stanley Baldwin Facts

• Baldwin worked in the family iron and steel making business, which included a works at Wilden near Stourport, for 20 years before entering politics.

• He led the Conservative Party for 14 years and was Prime Minster three times from May 1923 to January 1924; November 1924 to June 1929; June 1935 to May 1937.

• He dominated British politics in the inter-war years and handled a number of national crises including the General Strike, the abdication of King Edward VIII and the start of Britain’s rearmament prior to the Second World War.

• He was the first British Prime Minister to use the mass media of broadcasting and film.

• Baldwin was universally celebrated as a master of communications due to his unrivalled skill when delivering speeches.

• He introduced a range of policies we now take for granted such as giving women the vote on the same terms as men; ensuring the construction of millions of new homes; extending the old-age pension scheme; expanding maternal and childcare and developing industrial relations.

• He retired from politics the day after the coronation of King George VI in May 1937 and received the title Earl Baldwin of Bewdley and Viscount Corvedale.

• Baldwin died in his sleep at his home Astley Hall near Stourport on December 14 1947 and his ashes are interred, with those of his wife Lucy, inside Worcester Cathedral.