Suffragette statue is a reminder to fight for equality, says Theresa May

A new statue honouring women’s suffrage campaigner Millicent Fawcett will be a “constant reminder” of the battle for gender equality, according to Theresa May.

Writing in Monday's Evening Standard, the Prime Minister hailed the new work, to be unveiled in Parliament Square tomorrow, as a “beautiful sculpture” but said it should be an inspiration to keep up the fight.

“The best way to honour Dame Millicent’s legacy is for all of us to continue the fight she led so many years ago,” wrote Mrs May.

“I hope that the statue being unveiled tomorrow, standing in the heart of our capital and our democracy, will provide a constant reminder of the need to do so.”

The statue will be the first monument of a woman to stand in the central London location overlooked by the Palace of Westminster.

The installation, by Turner prize winner Gillian Wearing, will also feature 52 photographic etchings on tiles around the statue depicting 59 key women — and a few men — who were central in the push for women’s suffrage.

Mrs May said that while women now filled some of London’s top jobs, just seven of the FTSE 100 companies are led by women chief executive officers while across the country women are “still routinely paid less than men”.

“Together, these facts form a stark reminder that the struggle for equality did not end when the first women won the vote a century ago,” she said.