For those who have ever been to Parliament Square in London, located towards the North West end of the Palace of Westminster, you will have seen 11 different statues of various statesmen and notable figures. From Winston Churchill and David Lloyd George, to Mahatma Gandhi and Abraham Lincoln; all great proponents of freedom and democracy and all very worthy of their places in the square. However when you look properly, you soon realise that there is a shameful and glaring omission from the statues that look down upon you. There are no women.
I am embarrassed to admit that this is something that hadn’t occurred to me before. Now that I am aware, I have absolutely no idea why there are no statues of women. After all, our country is where it is today thanks to a number of strong women; from queens to politicians, visionaries, artists, engineers and scientists; Britain was helped defined by a number of notable men AND women. It is therefore time that Parliament Square should reflect this.
Thankfully, the Prime Minister announced this week that Dame Millicent Fawcett was to be the first woman to be honoured with a statue in Parliament Square. For those that don’t know, Fawcett was an equal rights campaigner who dedicated her life to getting women the vote. She led the suffragist movement which used peaceful tactics to campaign including non-violent demonstrations, petitions and lobbying MPs. The Suffragists had begun campaigning for women’s suffrage before the establishment of the Suffragette’s led by Emmeline Pankhurst, and many historians have even argued that the Suffragettes actually hindered the women’s suffrage movement by putting sympathisers off the cause due to their violent tactics. Dame Millicent was truly integral to the process of Women eventually being given the vote for the first time in 1928 and her legacy continues today through the women's rights charity, the Fawcett Society. So now that Parliament Square has its first woman, who is next I wonder? Perhaps Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, Mary Wollstonecraft, Elizabeth Fry, Queen Victoria or even the famous warrior queen Boudicca?
Away from the excitement of statues, I have been in Swindon all week thanks to being halfway through the Easter Parliamentary recess. This has provided lots of opportunities for visits and I especially enjoyed speaking to the Chief Executive of WH Smith and visiting their HQ on Greenbridge Road, a site which employs 500 people locally. I was also on hand to start the Oakhurst Primary School charity run which was in aid of the British Heart Foundation, as well as join the wonderfully enthusiastic students from the Uplands Educational Trust where I cycled 1 out of the 50 miles for their charity Bikeathon, which is raising money for the Horizon’s College for young adult learners. Next week, I am hosting a range of different public meetings on whole range of different issues including local crime, ongoing developments and speed bumps!
Finally, today I will be going along to the Bookies to place a charity bet on tomorrow’s Grand National. Whilst I know many people study the form, the jockeys and trainers; I suspect I will be relying on a quirky name, fingers crossed!
