LEGO suffragette visits Warwick University to commemorate Coventry’s first female MP

A LEGO Suffragette named ‘Hope’ has visited the University of Warwick’s Faculty of Arts Building (FAB) to mark the 75th anniversary of Coventry’s first female MP.

Hope is a life-size LEGO statue which was crafted for the UK Parliament in 2018 to mark the 100-year anniversary of women receiving voting rights in the UK.

Crafted by a group of three who spent 171 hours on it, using 32,327 individual LEGO bricks, the statue stands at a height of 1.7 metres (5 feet 6 inches) and weighs approximately 94.5 kilograms.

Hope’s visit to campus aims to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Elaine Burton’s election which made her the first female MP for Coventry

Hope’s visit to campus aims to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Elaine Burton’s election which made her the first female MP for Coventry. It also coincides with the University’s 60^th anniversary.

The installation has also attracted various Coventry educational institutions, such as Southfields Primary School and Earlsdon Primary School, who visited the University on 12 February to learn about suffrage through drama workshops, games, and art.

Hope will also serve the purpose of being an inspirational figure for Speakers Saturday, due to be hosted by the Department of History on 22 February.

This event will further educate students about the history of women’s rights in the UK and how crucial the 20th century was for women, as part of the women’s suffrage campaign in Warwickshire.

The Speakers Saturday event is set to welcome Zara Sultana MP […] Sultana is an advocate for social justice and gender discrimination, making her an inspirational figure for young women

Dr Tara Morton, Project Coordinator LEGO Suffragette 2025 at The University of Warwick, said: “Hope’s stay at Warwick enables the university to share and celebrate with local communities the fascinating stories of those who fought for women’s right to vote across the region in the past and be inspired by those who continue to campaign for gender and other forms of equality around the world today.”

The Speakers Saturday event is set to welcome Zarah Sultana MP, who was first elected Coventry South’s MP in 2019 and was then re-elected in 2024. Sultana is an advocate for social justice and gender discrimination, making her an inspirational figure for young women.

The event will also feature Professor Sarah Richardson from the University of Glasgow. Prof. Richardson is the convenor of the Women’s History Network, a national association established to promote women’s history both within and outside of academia.

Students can find Hope standing in the FAB until 28 February.