A bid by Swindon to host a new university named after the Queen, if one is proposed, seems unlikely in the short term.

But Swindon Borough Council does see the benefit of bringing a university to the borough and may look at a future bid.

Nick Hillman, the director of the educational think tank The Higher Education Policy Institute suggested that there should be a competition to host a new Queen Elizabeth II University, which should be set up to honour the late Queen.

That suggestion was immediately picked up by the leader of Swindon’s Labour councillors Jim Robbins.

He tweeted: “Swindon is the largest town in the country without a University, as Milton Keynes has the Open University.

“Hopefully Swindon Council will pursue this.  It would be great for Swindon to host the Queen Elizabeth II University.“

Coun Robbins, who is originally from Ipswich added: “I know that the University of Suffolk has had a great positive impact on Ipswich and would love to see us get a similar boost here in Swindon!”

He was backed up by a Labour parish councillor for South Swindon, Patrick Herring, who said: “It is important to add that not only is Swindon the largest town/city with no uni, Wiltshire as a whole is by far the largest county without a uni.”

Swindon Borough Council’s Conservative administration said it would be greatly in favour of a university in the borough, but suggested it would concentrate on making the most of the existing provision first.

Oladapo Ibitoye, the council’s cabinet member for education and skills, said: “Securing more university provision for Swindon would be fantastic for the town and it remains a long-held ambition when the time is right and the funding is in place from the government.

“However, we are already a town of ‘University Centres’ including The Royal Agricultural University, Oxford Brookes and Bath University all offering a plethora of vocational degrees.

“We are also lucky to have great further education provision through our colleges and the recently-opened Institute of Technology. The excellent Wilkes Academy of Performing Arts offers a BA Honours Degree in Musical Theatre, validated by Staffordshire University".

“Swindon is close to many excellent, established Universities such as Bath, Bristol, Oxford, Southampton, Reading and others within a reasonable travelling distance.”

Coun Ibitoye added: “A considerable amount of work has also already been undertaken with our schools and colleges to increase attainment and to raise aspirations, but we need to ensure more of our students are aware of the career pathways and subsequent educational opportunities available to them.

"The New Skills ACT and Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) will give us some welcome data-driven projects to improve post-16 technical education and make it more closely aligned to a region’s employer workforce needs.

“This will then help us increase the number of people going to our local university centres and universities in other towns and give us a solid factual base with which to pursue a stronger university bid in the future.”