Suffragist Dame Millicent Fawcett will be the first woman to be honoured with a statue in Parliament Square. And in order to combat the 'male-only zone', the 'milestone project' will be led by Gillian Wearing, who will subsequently become the first woman to create a statue in London's prime spot.
The Mayor of London announced the news: “It's simply not right that nearly a century after women’s suffrage, Parliament Square is still a male-only zone, and I’m thrilled that this is soon to change."
And Wearing, a Turner prize winner, is the right woman for the job having created a £100,000 bronze statue in Birmingham’s Centenary Square back in 2014.
“Millicent Fawcett was an incredible woman and by honouring her in Parliament Square I believe she will continue to inspire generations to come,” Wearing said.
The decision comes following an 11-month campaign by The Telegraph and feminist activist Caroline Criado-Perez which included a petition signed by 74,000 people. Currently all eleven statues in the iconic London square are men.
The new statue will be funded by a £5 million fund announced as part of the Spring budget to celebrate 2018 marking 100 years since women were granted the vote.
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