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Millicent Fawcett becomes first woman to have statue in Parliament Square
Tuesday 24th April 2018 | Jake
The suffragist Millicent Fawcett’s statue was unveiled on Tuesday, two years after an online petition was launched to finally see a woman commemorated in Parliament Square. She will stand alongside historical figures such as Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi.
Fawcett was a champion of women’s suffrage as an activist, writer and political figure, her role as president of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies contributed greatly to the eventual introduction of the women’s vote in 1918, although this bill allowed only women 30 and above the right to vote. The right was extended to all women over 21 a decade later.
The petition to have Fawcett immortalised in bronze drew thousands of signatures, and the leader of the campaign, Caroline Criado Perez, says she was moved to petition for a female statue after noticing the total domination of men in Parliament Square whilst on a run in 2016. Speaking to the BBC, Criado Perez said: “When I got to the third man, I thought, ‘Hang on a minute, surely someone has done something about this by now, it’s 2016.’”
Criado Perez is also known for her successful campaign to have Jane Austen on the new £10 notes.
Gillian Wearing designed the statue, which has Fawcett holding a banner emblazoned with the words “Courage calls to courage everywhere.”
The campaign has been organised and run solely by women, from sculptor to project manager, a feat that London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “should make us all incredibly proud.”
Discussing future statues of women in the capital, Khan said that if he had to choose a modern hero he would go for the mother of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence, Doreen Lawrence. “She’s the example of a modern-day Londoner who has changed the course of history.”
