Statue of Millicent Fawcett
The Statue of Millicent Fawcett stands in Parliament Square in the heart of Westminster, London, and holds the remarkable distinction of being the first statue of a woman ever erected in Parliament Square. Unveiled on 24 April 2018, it commemorates Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett, the suffragist leader who dedicated over five decades of her life to campaigning peacefully for women's right to vote in the United Kingdom. Its installation marked the centenary of the Representation of the People Act 1918, which granted the vote to women over the age of 30 who met certain property qualifications — a landmark moment in British democratic history that Fawcett helped make possible.
Millicent Garrett Fawcett was born in 1847 in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, and became one of the most influential political activists in British history. Unlike her more militant contemporaries the Suffragettes, led by Emmeline Pankhurst, Fawcett led the constitutional suffragist movement through the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, believing firmly in winning the vote through peaceful, legal means — lobbying, petitioning, and public persuasion. She was also a pioneering advocate for women's education and co-founded Newnham College, Cambridge. She lived to see partial suffrage granted in 1918 and full equal suffrage in 1928, just weeks before her death at the age of 81.
The statue was created by the sculptor Gillian Wearing, making it doubly significant as both a depiction of a woman and a work created by a woman — a first for Parliament Square. Wearing's design shows Fawcett as she appeared in her later years, standing in a dignified, resolute pose and holding a banner that reads "Courage calls to courage everywhere," a phrase taken from Fawcett's own words written in response to the force-feeding of imprisoned suffragettes. The bronze figure is rendered with considerable naturalism, capturing a sense of quiet determination rather than triumphalist grandeur, conveying the character of a woman who achieved extraordinary change through persistence and principle.
Standing in Parliament Square, the statue is embedded in one of the most symbolically loaded public spaces in Britain. The square is ringed by other bronze figures of largely male statesmen and leaders — Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, and others — making Fawcett's presence among them a pointed statement about whose contributions to democracy are recognised and memorialised. The Houses of Parliament and the Elizabeth Tower (housing Big Ben) loom immediately to the east, while Westminster Abbey is visible to the south. The Supreme Court occupies the northern side of the square, and the bustle of Whitehall and St James's Park are within easy walking distance.
In person, Parliament Square is rarely quiet. The sounds of London traffic on all sides, the chiming of Big Ben on the quarter-hour, and the voices of tourists and passers-by create a constantly animated atmosphere. The square itself is a green space with lawns that are generally not open to the public to walk upon, so the statues, including Fawcett's, are best viewed from the surrounding wide pavements and pedestrian areas. The Fawcett statue is positioned on the eastern side of the square, close to the Houses of Parliament, which gives her a symbolic sightline toward the legislature she fought so hard to enter on equal terms.
The campaign to erect the statue was led by journalist Caroline Criado Perez, who also successfully campaigned to keep a woman's portrait on Bank of England banknotes. The petition to create the statue gathered over 85,000 signatures. The choice of Fawcett over other suffrage figures was deliberate, reflecting a desire to honour the constitutional, non-violent strand of the movement and to celebrate a figure who is arguably less well known to the general public than Emmeline Pankhurst but no less consequential. The unveiling ceremony in 2018 was attended by Prime Minister Theresa May and Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn, and schoolchildren from across the UK were invited to attend, emphasising the statue's educational dimension.
Visiting is straightforward and completely free of charge. The nearest London Underground station is Westminster, served by the Jubilee, Circle, and District lines, just a short walk from the square. The area is accessible year-round and at all hours, though the square is particularly atmospheric in the early morning before crowds gather or in the evening when the Parliament buildings are illuminated. Given its location at one of the city's most visited tourist destinations, the area can become extremely busy on weekends and during peak summer months. Those with mobility considerations will find the surrounding pavements are wide and level, and the statue is viewable at close range without needing to enter the grassed areas.
A fascinating detail about the statue's banner is that it was specifically chosen to honour not just Fawcett's own words but to acknowledge the courage of all suffragists and suffragettes, bridging the historical divide between the constitutional and militant wings of the movement. The base of the statue also features the names of fifty-nine men and women — some famous, some obscure — who supported and shaped the campaign for women's suffrage, turning the plinth into a kind of collective memorial rather than a purely individual monument. This collaborative dimension reflects something of Fawcett's own philosophy: that progress is rarely the work of one person alone.