Sylvia Pankhurst statue to finally be installed in Clerkenwell

Campaigners who have fought for 17 years to build a statue of suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst have finally secured council support for the proposal.

A bronze of Pankhurst, a key figure in the women’s suffrage movement and one of the more radical campaigners, will be installed in Clerkenwell Green by the end of next year to mark 100 years since women won the right to vote. The statue is now part of Islington council’s proposed improvement works for the green.

On Tuesday, Westminster council gave planning permission for a statue of suffragist Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square after a year-long campaign by activist Caroline Criado-Perez. It has been designed by Turner Prize-winning artist Gillian Wearing and work will start this year.

Megan Dobney, a member of the Sylvia Pankhurst Memorial Committee, welcomed Islington’s decision. She said: “It has been 17 years in the making. We tried to get a statue by the House of Lords but that was rejected. We lulled for a bit and then two years ago we started fighting again. It is absolutely fantastic. And Clerkenwell Green is very fitting as a lot of class history took place there.”

The green, one of London’s oldest public spaces, has a long history of activism. Radical campaigner John Wilkes is believed to have led the first demonstration in the area in the late 1760s.

Councillor Alice Donovan-Hart, chair of the Clerkenwell Green stakeholder group that helped develop the plans, said: “2018 will mark the centenary of the passing of the Representation of the People Act, which afforded women fairer voting rights. We therefore think it’s the perfect opportunity to celebrate Sylvia’s life and legacy by erecting the statue in Clerkenwell Green.

“It has a history as a home for activism and has long been used as a gathering point for demonstrations and protests.

“Islington’s recognition of Sylvia’s contribution to women’s suffrage is especially important in consideration of the time she served at Holloway Prison as a result of her work.”