Supporter of British women’s suffrage to get statue in London
First likeness of a woman in Parliament Square, alongside Churchill, Mandela, Lincoln
LONDON— Britain, which has its second female prime minister and a queen who is the world’s longestreigning monarch, is getting its first statue of a woman in Parliament Square in London, where there are 11 statues of men.
Prime Minister Theresa May announced on Sunday that Millicent Garrett Fawcett, who campaigned for the right of women to vote, will be honoured with a statue to stand in the company of Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln and Nelson Mandela. Fawcett formed the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies in 1897 and died at age 82 in 1929, a year after all women in the United Kingdom were granted the right to vote.
Fawcett, May said, “continues to inspire the battle against the injustices of today.”
She added: “It is right and proper that she is honoured in Parliament Square alongside former leaders who changed our country. Her statue will stand as a reminder of how politics only has value if it works for everyone in society.”
The statue will be paid for from a £5-million fund (about $8.4 million) announced in this year’s spring budget to celebrate next year’s centenary of the first British women to get the vote.
Fawcett considered herself a suffragist, a moderate opposed to the sometimes violent protests of campaigners such as Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst, a mother and daughter who were known as suffragettes.
Fawcett, a political and union leader, is not the only woman to be honoured by the British government this year. Jane Austen’s image will be on the new polymer £10 note, replacing that of Charles Darwin.
The Bank of England caused some controversy when it put Churchill on the new polymer £5 bill, replacing social reformer Elizabeth Fry. The bank responded to the outcry by putting Austen on bills scheduled to be issued this fall.
Those bills will feature a quotation from Austen’s Pride and Prejudice: “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!”
Caroline Criado-Perez, who started a petition campaign for a suffrage statute in London, praised the choice of Fawcett and thanked supporters.
Writing on Twitter, Criado-Perez said: “Delighted with such a decisive response” from May.
“Huge thank you to everyone who supported the campaign from the beginning,” including Mayor Sadiq Khan of London.
Fawcett inspired a women’s rights charity, the Fawcett Society. Its chief executive, Sam Smethers, said of plans for a statue in her honour: “Her contribution was great, but she has been overlooked and unrecognized until now. By honouring her, we also honour the wider suffrage movement.”