A new statue by Turner Prize-winning artist Gillian Wearing OBE of leading Suffragist campaigner Millicent Fawcett has been unveiled in Parliament Square. This monument is the first statue of a woman in Parliament Square, and the first to be created by a woman. Its unveiling on 24 April 2018 was a major event in the Mayor of London’s #BehindEveryGreatCity campaign, which celebrates the role of women in the capital. The statue is a contemporary depiction of Millicent Fawcett at the age of 50, when she became president of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies. The new work presents Fawcett’s individual courage as part of a collective struggle. Alongside Fawcett, the names and portraits of 58 men and women who campaigned for women’s suffrage are inscribed on the plinth.
The statue has been commissioned by the Mayor of London with 14-18 NOW, Firstsite and Iniva to commemorate the Centenary of the Representation of the People Act 1918, through the Government’s national centenary fund.
Commissioned by the Mayor of London with 14-18 NOW, Firstsite and Iniva to commemorate the Centenary of the Representation of the People Act 1918, through the Government’s national centenary fund
