Jennie Lee

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Jennie Lee

Jennie Lee.Portrait.jpg

Name Janet Lee (3 November, 1904- 16 November, 1988)
Nicknames Jennie (everyone)
Politics
Party Labour (After 1945)
Independent Labour (Prior to 1945)
Constituency Cannock (1945-1970)
North Lanarkshire (1929-1931)
Positions • Minister of State for the Arts (1967-1970)
• Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the Arts (1965–1967)
Likes Socialism, women's education
Dislikes Nuclear arms, the National Government
Friends Aneurin Bevan, Frank Wise, Ellen Wilkinson
Enemies Winston Churchill, Ramsay MacDonald
Relationships
Partners Aneurin Bevan (1934-1960, his death)
Frank Wise (affair, ?-1933, his death)
Children None
Personal Attributes
Nationality Scottish
Religion ?
Sexuality Straight
Height ?
Eye Colour Brown
Handedness Right
Accent Light Scottish

Jennie Lee was an Independent Labour Party politician noted for her far-left views. She played a large role in the foundation of the Open University, and was married to NHS founder, Aneurin Bevan.

Life and Career[edit | edit source]

Early Life[edit | edit source]

Jennie was born to James and Euphemia Lee in Scotland. As a girl, she was influenced by her father's socialist leanings and joined the ILP like him. She opposed the First World War and was inspired by reading about 19 year old Nye Bevan in the newspapers. Aged 14, she, like her father was excited at the news of the Russian Revolution.

With support from the Carnegie Trust, she recieved enough funding to go to university in Edinburgh. She studied hard, was a passionate reader, and took up public speaking, making speeches around the university on women's suffrage and Socialism. She met Ellen Wilkinson for the first time, who would later become Minister for Education.

Parliamentary Career[edit | edit source]

Jennie Lee, Baby of the House

After leaving university, she became a teacher, but her speeches impressed the ILP, and she was invited to become a candidate for North Lanark, which she won in 1929 at the age of 24, the youngest MP in the House. In her maiden speech, she attacked Churchill's budget, a speech that Churchill congratulated her on afterwards. She was completely opposed to MacDonald's decision to form a National Government, and was defeated in the 1931 election. Through the 1930s, she campaigned for a National Front for European Socialists to oppose the rise of Fascism.

Jennie rejoined the Labour Party shortly before the 1945 general election and was returned to the Commons as the MP for the Midlands coalfield constituency of Cannock. She was made Minister for the Arts during the first Wilson government and was responsible for forming the Open University. She lost her seat in 1970 and retired from frontline politics, after which she was raised to the peerage as Baroness Lee of Asheridge of the City of Westminster.

Full List of Appointments
• Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Ministry of Public Building and Works (1964 - 1965)
• Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the Arts (1965 – 1967)
• Minister of State for the Arts (1967 - 1970)

Personal Life[edit | edit source]

Jennie had a very close friendship with fellow MP, Frank Wise, who considered divorcing his wife to marry Jennie. However, he decided against it and died in 1933. The next year, she married Nye Bevan, who was also from a poor, mining background. He became Minister for Health in Attlee's Government, and they remained together until his death. Though they disagreed on the issue of nuclear armament, with Jennie strongly opposed, they shared left-wing sentiments. Jennie said "We were both now pinning our hopes on political action. We were eager to test to the full the possibility of bringing about basic socialist change by peaceful, constitutional means."

Portrayal[edit | edit source]

In Culture[edit | edit source]

Jennie and Nye in Food for Ravens

Jennie is considered to be a driving force in women's rights, supporting suffrage and campaigning for women to be educated to as high a level as men. She appeared in the film Food for Ravens, played by Sinead Cusack.

In Fanon[edit | edit source]

She has yet to be written about in lolitics fic.