Statue of Millicent Fawcett

Millicent Fawcett stands in Parliament Square, Westminster, a paved open space surrounded by statues of British leaders. The square lies between the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey, a short walk from the River Thames. It is one of London’s most visited public spaces, where people pass daily on their way to work or sightseeing. The square itself contains statues of men who shaped the nation’s history, including Winston Churchill and David Lloyd George. Millicent Fawcett’s bronze figure was added in 2018, making her the first woman honoured with a statue in the square. The statue commemorates Fawcett’s lifelong fight for women’s rights as a suffragist leader. Her campaigning helped secure votes for women over 30 in 1918, a milestone marked by the government’s Centenary Fund. The sculpture was commissioned after a public campaign led by activist Caroline Criado Perez, who noticed all existing statues were of men. Prime Minister Theresa May and London Mayor Sadiq Khan supported the project, recognising Fawcett’s influence on equality. The bronze figure shows her at 50, the age she became president of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies. Visitors find Fawcett holding a banner with the words COURAGE CALLS TO COURAGE EVERYWHERE. Her walking suit is detailed in bronze, with the texture of tweed fabric visible in the material. The statue’s plinth carries the names and images of 59 women and four men who campaigned for suffrage. The square remains a busy place, where schoolchildren and tourists gather around the new monument. The statue stands as a reminder of the struggle for equality, visible among the grand figures of Britain’s past.