THEY may not always have seen eye to eye when it came to politics, but it appears Ken Dodd and the redoubtable Bessie Braddock were rather fond of each other.
Now the pair of quite different Liverpool icons have been immortalised in bronze in two new statues which will greet people as they arrive at Lime Street station.
Doddy was joined by members of Mrs Braddock’s family for the official unveiling of the statue by Tom Murphy yesterday.
The sculptor, whose other works include John Lennon, Dixie Dean and Billy Fury, said: “I imagined two of Liverpool’s greatest characters in a chance meeting. What would they say to each other? Politically they were poles apart, but when Bessie Braddock was in London, she would take Harold Wilson and his wife to see Ken perform at the Palladium.
“Bessie and Jack, her husband, weren’t blessed with children, but they loved them and were keen to support youth in the city. Bessie was a great supporter of boys’ clubs and loved boxing.
“She liked nothing better than a good fight for the people of Liverpool in Parliament.”
