A STATUE of Margaret Thatcher should be erected as part of a drive to see more women immortalised in public spaces, a Scottish MP has said.

Jo Swinson, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, has said the former Prime Minister deserves her own statue in a public place.

Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Ms Swinson, MP for East Dunbartonshire, said she was disappointed to see that Westminster Council turned down an application for a statue of Thatcher in Parliament Square in London.

She said that Thatcher should be one of several prominent women who should be honoured in public spaces.

"Parliament, in common with our town halls, city centres and public spaces, is packed with memorials to men," she said.

"Eleven monuments of men loom large around Parliament Square - there's not a single woman."

While Ms Swinson said she did not agree with much of the late PM's policies, she "was our first female Prime Minister and the longest-serving Premier of the 20th Century.

"Thatcher gave her name to a distinct ideology which changed the course of the country, even if I now spend much time trying to find policy solutions to change the unethical corporate behaviour that Thatcherism unleashed."

Ms Swinson also suggests that Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister, should be honoured with a statue in the future.

"There is no denying Ms Sturgeon's significance as a political figure," she writes.

Ms Swinson concludes: "To councils and public institutions I say this: celebrate the centenary of women's suffrage by making women visible, including those who achievements are controversial."